Hunter X Tail
by constantdreamingx
Summary: Mary Zoldyck, from the infamous family of assassins, decides she wants a change in her life. So she leaves her world without her family's knowledge and ends up in the world of Fairy Tail, where magic runs freely. Makarov happily accepts her into his guild, and she finally seems truly happy. But problems arise after her arrival, that could put her new friends in danger. NatsuxOC
1. Chapter 1

**||So i probably shouldn't be posting this, let alone writing this because I haven't finished either series. But I'm obsessed with these two animes, so i wanted to write about it.(: Let's pretend this all happened after Edolas. Like almost immediately after. I don't think this story will really follow this storyline of Fairy Tail or HunterxHunter much, unless I decide to in the middle of my writing. I promise I'll try to have it all make sense! So please bear with me..(: ||**

"Goddammit Natsu! Stop throwing things around! You're making a mess of the Guild Hall again!" A half-naked raven haired boy around 18 years old yelled at his pink haired companion.

Natsu Dragneel was jumping around excitedly for no reason, making a mess as usual. Nobody was really doing anything about it, they were all used to this. Some guys were yelling at him to stop being annoying though. Natsu paused in the middle of his rampage and slowly turned to look at the raven haired boy who had previously spoken.

"What was that, Gray? You think you can boss me around?" Natsu growled.

"Hey you wanna go?!" Gray Fullbuster yelled back as they started nearing each other, their fists clenched.

A blonde Lucy Heartfilia, around the same age as the two boys, watched this exchange with a giggle. She was still fairly new to this guild compared to the people who had been here for years, but ever since Natsu had brought her here a few months ago, she realized Fairy Tail was kind of like one big family.

"Gray, you're naked again," A tipsy brunette with a swim suit top and brown leggings on commented. Gray froze and looked down at himself in shock before retreating to find his clothes.

Suddenly the front entrance opened. Usually this wouldn't really be a big deal, but Natsu smelled a new, unfamiliar scent. He paused, causing Gray to stop in the middle of putting his clothing back on and survey things as well. He sensed a new presence, a powerful one at that. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the door.

Standing there was a girl around Natsu, Lucy, and Gray's age (around 17-18) with long black hair that fell down to the middle of her back and bright blye eyes. She was quite petite and skinny. Not the starving kind of skinny, more like the fit, lean kind.

She wore a black bandeau wrapped around her chest, a fitted black leather jacket that was left hanging open reavealing her stomach, and black shorts with a thick white belt, and slim black boots that went up to her knees. She definitely seemed strong... and different.

The girl looked around at everyone's curious expression with her big blye eyes, making her seem innocent. But really, she was taking care to notice every detail, because that was how she was trained. Her gaze rested on Master Makarov, who sat crossed legged on the bar, his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

As she headed towards him, some men looked at her in awe, their eyes turned into hearts, while a few other people looked at her in caution. This included Juvia. But Juvia was only glaring at her because her obsession, Gray, was looking at this girl in wonder along with the other men.

"Wow... Who is she?" Lucy asked in wonder as she watched the girl walk past her. She walked with a calm and collected sense about her, but you could just barely tell that she was still on alert. Every step was airy and graceful, like she was unafraid and confident. Like she knew exactly what she was doing.

"Are you the Master here?" She looked down at the small old man, who still didn't open his eyes but only nodded. "My name is Master Makarov."

"My name is Mary.. Mary Zoldyck." Makarov's eyes opened as she said her name.

"You're quite a ways from home, aren't you?" He asked, not at all hostile, only friendly.

Mary nodded once, her face still expressionless. The old man grinned and pulled out a stamp that held Fairy Tail's insignia from out of nowhere.

"Where would you like your mark?"

Mary widened her eyes in surprise, the first emotion she had shown since she'd arrived. But she still didn't let her caution drop."How did you know I wanted to join your guild?"

"Your story has been spread around like wild fire within the ranks of the more powerful and knowledgable wizards. Don't worry, nobody knows what you look like exactly," He added when Mary narrowed her eyes. "There were rumors going around that a powerful person from another world was looking for a guild. And since you're here now..." he shrugged.

Mary looked slightly pissed that people knew about her whereabouts. "Do you know of my family?"

Makarov nodded, "I've heard of them. Considering the Zoldyck family is not from this world, hardly anybody knows of them."

"How do you know of their existence then?"

"Rumors," Makarov shrugged again, "Whisperings that go around every now and then."

"Anyways, you're just gonna let me join? Even though you know of my family's... er, job?"

Mackarov nodded, "I know of your power. Well, more specifically, your family's power. I trust that you've abandoned your previous occupation. " He said quitely. "But even if you do decide to turn on us, no matter how strong your family's power is, we will bring you down," Makarov growled, a deathly warning.

"Where would you like your mark?" Makarov repeated, holding up the stamp, ready to go. He was all cheery again, like he said nothing dark a few seconds ago.

"Um..." She looked around her own body, "Here!" She decided pointing to her exposed stomach, more specifically towards her left hip. Makarov pressed the stamp to her skin, and when he removed the stamp, a bright blue Fairy Tail mark could be seen a few inches to the bottom left of her belly button.

/ / / / /

"Wow, so you're from another world? Mary-san?" Natsu asked excitedly, leaning towards her.

Mary nodded and smiled sheepishly. In the 15 minutes she had been here, she had been introduced to everyone who was in the building currently. This boy, Natsu, and his group seemed to take her in as one of their own.

Before she had even spoken to them, she examined each of them carefully in a matter of seconds.

The first one had pink hair and was very outgoing. She suspected he was kind of the 'leader' of this group. He seemed to be a fire user. He wore dark pants and a dark vest with no shirt underneath, revealing his defined muscles. He also wore a white scarf that looked like scales.

The next one was raven haired and had a quiet exterior. He wore a long white coat with dark blue detailing. He definitely didn't seem as excitable and outgoing as his pink haired companion. He was an ice user. That explained why him and the fire user didn't get along too well.

Surprisingly, a blonde girl was in this group too. She didn't seem like the type to be with these two boys, she seemed to think logically and was smart. She had on a white sleevless top with a blue cross over it, with a matching blue miniskirt. A whip was strung through a belt that hung around her waist.

She examined the others as well, taking in as much as she could in case she would have to go against any of them someday, which was unlikely.

"How did you get here?" Gray asked, all his clothes off except for his boxers. Mary stared at him strangely.

"Gray-sama. You're naked again," A black cat with round ears stated with a deep voice. Mary's eyes widened when she heard this cat talk.

"What?! A talking cat?! Oh gosh you're so cute!" She squealed, grabbing Panther Lily and hugging him tightly to her chest. After she finished that, she kept him in her arms, petting him and causing him to purr against his will. Evidently, she had a weakness for adorable things.

A rough looking man with metal in his face and long black spikey hair, Gajeel, clenched his fists and yelled, "What the hell are you doing to my cat?!"

"He's not complaining," She shrugged. It was true, Lily kept silent this whole entire time, besides his involuntary purring.

"Hey! Happy and Carla can talk too," Natsu stated.

A blue cat, Happy, nodded, "Aye sir!"

"Yeah, but this once is tough looking with round ears," Mary indicated, making the whole table chuckle sheepishly and sweat drop.

"But back to your question, Gray," She turned to Gray, still holding and petting Lily, "My family possesses this powerful Nen that can be used to be transported to other worlds. It's helpful when we have missions that require rare items that can't be found where I come from. But it's a long and painful process to be transported to a different world, and you have to be of the Zoldyck bloodline, or with someone that is part of the Zoldyck bloodline," Mary explained.

"So why'd you come to Earthland?" Lucy asked curiously.

"I read about this place once in an ancient book. How it's full of magic and things, so I decided I wanted to come live here." Mary shrugged, "It beats being at home all the time."

"What's wrong with being at home?" Gajeel asked suspiciously.

"My family is a bit... twisted," Mary provided a weak explanation. From what she gathered in the short amount of time she was here, it definitely was not socially acceptable to kill people. Back in her world, killing someone wasn't a really big deal. So she was hesitant to tell her new guild about what her family was like back home.

"What do you mean twisted?" A red head in armor named Erza pressed the topic.

"Well.. They cared for me and my siblings, but not like normal families.."

"Care to explain?" A red head in armor, Erza, pushed the topic.

"Er.. Well my siblings and I have been through a lot of harsh training ever since we were young..." Mary trailed off, not certain where she was going with this, so she changed the subject smoothly. "Anyway, I came here more specifically because I wanted to experience something new. I wanted actual friends," Mary shrugged.

"You didn't have any friends back home?" Natsu's eyes widened. He found that hard to believe considering Mary was beautiful and her personality seemed great once you got past a wall that she kept up.

She shook her head, "My mother kept me and my younger brother locked in the house most of the time, unless we had to do something... But even when we did get the chance to leave, most kids were too afraid to speak to us," The group looked a little bit surprised at that piece of information, "When my little brother took the Hunter Exam, he found friends of his own. I was jealous of him, so I came here," Mary finished.

The group seemed to let all this sink in.

"Don't worry, we'll be your friends! You're in Fairy Tail now," Natsu grinned warmly, winking and giving her a thumbs up. She looked around the table, everyone was grinning at her, even Gajeel was smiling a bit.

A feeling struck her that she rarely experienced, and it almost brought happy tears to her eyes. So she simply smiled at them greatfully.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mary-san, are you ready?" Natsu approached her with Gray and Lucy following, and Happy flying near Natsu.

She looked up, "Call me Mary. And sure," She nodded and followed the trio out the door.

It has been a day since she came to Fairy Tail, and she was going on her first job with Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Happy today. So far she basically got along with everyone, even Laxus, though he would never admit that.

"I'm excited to see your magic!" Lucy exclaimed.

Mary smiled sheepishly, "Don't get too excited. There's a high chance I'm not even gonna use anything more than my normal abilities on this job."

"Ehh? Why?!" Natsu asked, surprised. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her.

"Because I only use enough strength that's necessary. And this job is only capturing outlaws that had taken over a small village correct? Anyways, it doesn't seem like much trouble," Mary looked up at the sky as they continued walking. The sky seemed more blue over here, but that could just have been her imagination.

"These outlaws have taken over a whole entire village, they can't be that weak," Lucy said nervously.

Mary let out a short laugh, "We'll see."

/ / / / /

"I see it up ahead!" Happy called from above. The four of them all looked up at the blue cat, who was pointing in the direction they intended on going.

"Ahh, thank goodness! I thought our journey would never end!" Lucy let out a sigh of relief.

Natsu insisted they all walk to the little village, because he could not stand transportation and refused to get on the train. It took half a day to get there, but Mary didn't mind. The walk didn't bother her at all, her stamina was already high up from her training sessions she'd had along with her brothers. So they ended up walking hours to their destination in the blazing sun, with Lucy complaining all the way there.

They quickly hurried to the entrance of the village, and from what they could see, it looked completely abandoned.

"Looks like nobody's here," Lucy said without thinking.

"No, I can sense all of them. They're just in hiding," Mary's blue eyes sweeped everything in front of her, keeping alert for any movement. She could feel Gray watching her.

"She's right, I can smell their fear," Natsu said quietly.

"Let's split up, we can cover more ground faster that way. Happy, fly above the place, looking for anything suspicious. If you see something, report to one of the groups immediately," Mary ordered the flying blue cat. He gave her a salute before flying away.

"How about you two go together," She pointed at Gray and Natsu, "and I'll go with Lucy," Mary didn't wait for a response before heading in a direction with Lucy in tow.

/ / / / /

"This place gives me the creeps.." Lucy shivered and clutched herself. The two were currently walking down a deserted street, looking for any signs of movement.

"It's not like it's haunted," Mary chuckled, still on alert.

"Yeah but-" Lucy didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before Mary pulled her down to the ground. "Hey! What was that for?" Lucy complained, just before a long dagger sailed over them, exactly where their hearts would've been at. Lucy gasped as the dagger wedged itself in the building next to them.

"You've excellent aim," Mary got up and dusted herself off just as a man appeared in the middle of the street, a few yards in front of them. He had limp black hair and dark eyes. He looked like the common evil doer, complete with a black cape sinister smirk. The cape almost made Mary burst out laughing.

"Thank you. And you have excellent reflexes. Tell me, how could you have known I was there. How did you know a dagger was about to pierce you?" The man asked. He looked genuinely curious.

She just shrugged and smirked. "You're loud. Who are you?"

"My name is Maz. I am the leader of the group of outlaws who overtook this town," He held his hands up with attitude. "You two are Fairy Tail wizards, I presume?" His eyes drifted to the mark on Mary's hip, and the one on Lucy's hand.

"You're right! And we're gonna defeat you!" Lucy said confidently.

Maz chuckled, putting his hands on his hips. "You won't be able to get out of here alive," He put one hand up and in a puff of smoke six monsters in a rough formation around their leader.

They were big creatures. Bulky beasts with dark purple wrinkly skin. Black eyes, sharp teeth, and nails that ended in razor sharp tips. They kind of just looked like piles of sludge with long legs and arms.

"What are you? A magician?" Lucy mocked. As she made fun of him, Mary surveyed the opponent.

These creatures may have looked powerful, but they were big and seemed slow. She could see that they had weak auras. So although they looked scary, they'd be extremely easy to beat. There were also two of Maz's allies hidden on the rooftops on either side of the street, waiting for the signal to attack.

"You're an annoying one! Capture her!" The enemy ordered, pointing to Lucy, immediately the closest monster to the girls reached down and plucked Lucy right off her feet. Lucy was frozen in shock and couldn't have run away. The creature dropped her in front of it's master, the master then pulled her in a headlock and put a knife to her throat.

"Lucy!" Mary yelled, clenching her fists.

"Come save her before I kill her. If you can," The enemy cackled. "You have three minutes befre I cut her throat open."

"He's bluffing! Mary, don't worry about me! Just go find Gray and Natsu!" Lucy pleaded.

Mary smirked, ignoring Lucy, "Tch. I don't need three minutes. I can do it in less time," And with that she disappeared from her spot all together. The only trace she left behind was the dirt that had been stirred under her feet.

"What?! Where'd she go?!" Maz looked around furiously.

"Up here," A cool voice said. Everyone looked up. Mary was above one of the monsters, falling towards it with one leg extended, her black leather jacket flapping in the wind, and her face expressionless. All Lucy thought was that she definitely looked cool.

Not being fast enough to move out of the way, the monster disappeared in a puff of smoke as Mary came down on it's head with her foot, using gravity to her advantage to put power in her fall.

Just as she thought. _T__hese monsters are weak. They disappear with one mildly strong hit_. Mary thought.

The second Mary's foot came into contact with the ground, she pushed off, heading towards another creature.

"Shit," Maz cursed, "She disappeared again."

_Is she using teleportation magic? _Lucy thought searching around for her new friend. _No. I can't detect any active magic coming from her. She's just unbelievably fast..._

A blur caught their attention, and drew their gazes to a different monster. They saw Mary for a split second, she was sideways, her leg still extended. She rotated to kick the monster in the face, leaving a puff of smoke behind.

As Mary darted around, all Lucy and Maz could do was watch as each monster was done for in a puff of smoke. They hardly caught a glimpse of her, only in the moment when she was attacking head on. She'd even pushed the two henchmen off the roof.

Within 45 seconds she was finished, and she stood in front of them. Her face stll expressionless. The face of a professional.

"Will you let my friend go now? I believe that was all in less three minutes." Mary's expression was almost bored, and she could sense Gray, Natsu, and Happy watching from behind a building corner. But no one else knew they were there.

"N-no!" Maz stuttered, "Those were only mere puppets! You'll have to defeat me now!" He mustered up a confident, mischievious smile.

Mary sighed and decided to have a little fun with this and scare him a bit. So she began walking slowly in a wide circle around him.

Images of her began appearing one after the other as she continued walking around him. The images all looked like they were walking in the same direction, nothing giving away which was the real one. It just looked like there were many Mary's surrounding the enemy.

"Woah! Natsu look! There's like a million of Mary!" Happy whispered to Natsu, who only nodded, watching the fight intensely.

The enemy, Maz, began shaking in fear before letting go of Lucy and running in a random direction, in an attempt to escape the circle. Unfortunately for him, he ran straight into the real one. As soon as she grabbed for him, the replicas disappeared, leaving only the real one.

After knocking him out with a swift chop to the back of the neck, she dropped him and sighed, looking up at the sky and locking her hands behind her head.

"Ehh, that was boring!" She found herself sounding more and more like her little brother, Killua, all the time.

Slim arms wrapped around her shoulders, "Mary! You saved me! You're so amazing!" Lucy gushed, hugging the life out of her.

She looked at the blonde girl in shock, not knowing how to respond. But Lucys warm kindness actually made her grin happily.

"Yeah, that was some pretty spectacular magic," Gray commented as the three came out of their hiding spot and approached the two girls. Mary could see the four henchmen that the boys had beat up, they were unconscious and piled up where the wizards had been hiding.

"Huh? I wasn't using magic at all just then," Mary cocked her head to the side.

"What?!" The boys exclaimed, gaping at her in surprise. Mary nodded. She suspected Lucy has already known she hadn't been using magic or even Nen.

"Jeez, you could've been a major help in Edolas," Lucy sighed. When the boys agreed intensely, it piked her curiosity.

"Edolas?"

"Not long ago, like last month actually, we were unexpectedly transported to a different world when no magic existed. It was a struggle, but we got our magic back and defeated the evil king," Natsu summarized.

"Oh, then what was that thing when you were slowly walking around in a circle around the guy and there was a bunch of you?" Happy asked.

"Oh, Rhythm Echo? My baby brother taught that to me when we ran away from home for a little while," She explained, then mentally slapping herself. They must thinking her family was all insane now.

The four of them dropped like weights in surprise. They slowly got up.

"A baby knows how to do all that too?!" Natsu exclaimed in shock.

Mary looked at him in confusion.

"Idiot, she doesn't mean an actually baby, she means her younger brother!" Gray smacked him in the back of his head.

Mary nodded, "Erm, but that was only a fraction of my real strength. Killua and Illumi could have done it faster and better. Not to mention my dad," She rubbed the back of her head, thinking about it as the others sweat dropped.

"The men in your family sound scary..." Lucy smiled nervously.

Mary grinned and nodded once, "Mm! I live in a house full of boys! Except my mom. I hope you can meet them someday! Well Killua at least..."

"Anyway, you're pretty awesome, Mary! Let's fight someday!" Natsu grinned happily, his eyes shining.

It was Mary's turn to be surprised, she made a face at him and tried to hold her giggle back.

"That's his way of saying he thinks you're strong. Take it as a compliment," Gray chuckled. Happy nodded in agreement.

"Hey. Why don't you ever wanna fight me, Natsu!?" Lucy demanded.

Natsu chuckled, "Oh Lucy, don't be silly."

"What's that supposed to mean, Jerk Face?!"

/ / / / /

"Wow. You guys get a lot of money for doing these jobs, don't you?" Mary stared at the bills in her hand. Even though they had split the reward money, that still left each of them with plenty.

They were now back at the guild, after dragging Natsu onto the train. No one wanted to walk again.

Gray nodded, "Well, it depends what job you do. If it's a harder one, then it'll pay more. And vice versa."

"Ne, Mary. Where are you living here in Magnolia?" Lucy asked, leaning towards her.

"Huh? Oh, I guess I haven't thought about that."

"Where have you been sleeping at night?"

"I haven't. I can usually go 4-5 days without sleep. I don't enjoy it, but if I have to," She shrugged, "And if I desperately need it, I find a tree branch way high up and rest for a little."

Natsu, Lucy, and Gray's eyebrows rose. "How long has it been since you slept?" one of them asked.

"Uhh. Let's see," She looked up at the ceiling and thought about it, mumbling and counting on her fingers. Then she held up 7 fingers.

"Mary that's not healthy!" Gray and Lucy yelled at the same time.

She shrunk down and chuckled nervously, "Sorry.."

"Ah!" Natsu stood up with a finger raised, he looked like he had an idea.. "She can stay at my house with Happy and I!" He suggested, as innocent as a little boy.

"Aye!"

Mary's eyes grew round and she leaned back, surprised.

"Rejected," Gray and Lucy said at the same time, their arms crossed and eyes closed. And that was the end of that idea.

Lucy sighed, "I know!" Her face lit up, "She can stay with me! As long as you help pay the rent," Lucy grinned down at the girl. Who smiled and nodded excitedly.

"How do you even function without sleeping for a whole week?" Natsu asked resting his chin on his hand and cocking his head to the side adorably. The others also seemed to wonder the same thing, because they said nothing else.

"Ehh.. Well, we were trained like that for when we go on long missions and have to keep a lookout at all times," Mary explained.

"You're family seems interesting. All this talk about training and missions. Plus you seemed to know exactly what to do back at the village, you had a whole plan devised in a blink of an eye. You defeated the leader like it was nothing. And you're saying that even your 12 year old brother can do this stuff. What are you?" Gray asked suspiciously. He didn't seem very hostile, only very curious and very suspicious.

Mary clenched her jaw and her eyes instinctively narrowed a bit. _He's very perceptive. Tch. I should've known he'd been observing me.I'm surprised that Natsu and Lucy hadn't suspected anything. I'm just glad Erza wasn't there. She's very smart for her age and would've figured it out much sooner._

Thoughts raced through her head. Mary didn't want to tell them about her family of assassins. They'd freak out and completely outcast her.

"Natsu, when are we fighting?" Mary changed the subject. She flinched, but it was barely visible. They surely would've noticed the sudden change of topic. But her family wasn't something she could talk about in this world with these people.

"Ah! That's right! Give me a month to train a little bit more," Natsu winked and gave her a thumbs up.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Gray with his eyes narrowed, staring at her. Even Lucy's head was cocked a little, going over what just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, what kind of magic do you even use? You've been her for over a month and we still haven't seen you use your magic. Are you even a wizard?" Laxus teased.

A little over a month has passed since Mary first came to Fairy Tail. She had unintentionally captured everyone's hearts, meaning, everyone loved her. She truly did not see this coming, especially because of her past. But even Laxus was friends with her now.

Currently, Laxus and herself were sitting opposite each other in the middle of the floor, cross legged. He was tapping both of her cheeks with his index fingers, one after the other in almost a rhythm. In reality, Laxus was actually a sweetheart, he only put up a tough exterior that was almost impossible to get through.

This was one of the few times every month Laxus was actually at the guild.

"He's right. We're all dying to see your magic," Natsu came to join the two. He stood next to Mary, looking down at the two with his fist resting on his hip. Mary giggled and grabbed Laxus' arms to make him stop tapping her cheeks so she could talk properly.

"I only use excessive strength when I think it's necessary. The jobs we've gone on only required not a lot of my abilities," Mary explained. Their conversation attracted many people to their little floor circle, including Gray, Lucy, Happy, Gajeel, Panther Lily, Elfman, and Erza.

Before she could continue her explanation, the master's voice called from his office. "Laxus! Could you get your butt in here for a minute!" Laxus groaned before getting up, swatting Mary on the head in a friendly gesture, and dragging his feet all the way to the Master's office. Mary smiled, he acted like a brat sometimes. Well, everyone in this guild did. No wonder why Makarov called them brats.

"But I can manipulate my aura. That's already something people back home can do, it's called Nen. I just use magic to strengthen it. But more importantly, I can change my aura into fire. So to you guys, it's like using fire magic."

"Hey! Like Natsu!" Happy exclaimed happily.

"Oh great, another fire user in this guild," Gray sighed, but smiled at Mary to show that he didn't mean to offend her.

"What's Nen?" Lucy asked.

Mary pursed her lips, how could she explain it so these people could understand?

"It's something where you can control your aura. There's four major principles. Ten: the most basic principle. Basically, you just have to keep your aura from floating away." She used Ten, and they saw a whitish fog surrounding her. The group's eyebrows rose in mild surprise.

She didn't know what it was about this world, but all magic users could see aura, even though they don't use Gyo.

"Zetsu: you use this to hide your presence," When she finished her sentence, she used Zetsu, and the white fog that was previously surrounding her was gone.

"I can't sense you anymore. I can hardly even smell you," Natsu freaked and Mary only nodded.

"Ren: this intensifies and expands your aura. This is used as a defense against other Nen users," Mary's body was now surrounded by her intense and powerful aura. This made a few people step back because of the power coming from her. The white fog was back, but it spiked like crazy around her.

"And Hatsu: This is basically one's personal expression of Nen and creates a special and unique should reflect a person's character."

"Gahhh. I don't understand this at all," Natsu clutched his head in exasperation. Mary could tell everyone else understood it, if only just a little.

"Interesting," Erza tapped her chin in thought. "That's amazing really..." Obviously she understood it much more than the others did.

"There are six different categories of auras," Mary continued her lesson. "Enhancer, Transmuter, Conjurer, Emitter, Manipulator, and Specialist. I'm a transmuter, and that's why I can change my aura into fire. You can only fully master one category. But some people like to try and learn the other categories."

When she finished her explanation she stood up and took a few steps away from the group, they all watched her curiously. Almost instantaneously her body was engulfed in blue flames.

The guild momentarily freaked out, but when they realized Mary wasn't being hurt, they settled down and only watched in awe.

"This is my aura when I transmute it into fire," She probably didn't have to say it, but she felt like she had to explain to these people. Slowly, the fire disappeared.

"Alright. Now I definitely have to fight you! See who's the better fire user," Natsu smirked.

"Oh yeah, did you end up training for this whole month?" Mary remembered what Natsu had said when he first said he wanted to fight over over a month ago.

_'Give me a month to train, and then I'll definitely beat you!' _Or something along those lines.

Natsu's mouth gaped open and he started to twitch. Mary looked at him strangely.

"Natsu trained super hard the first week but then forgot all about it!" Happy informed cheerily. Mary chuckled.

"I can still defeat you! Let's fight now!" Natsu had that determined look on his face that meant he was serious.

"If you two fight in the guild hall and burn this place to the ground I will kill you," Master Makarov's deathly voice spoke from behind them. Mary and Natsu froze before slowly turning around.

Makarov was walking towards them, his face so serious it was scary. Following behind him was Laxus. They seemed to be finished with their discussion.

/ / / / /

Thirty minutes later, half of the people that were in the guild hall were now standing in a large clearing in the forest. They stood in a circle around Mary and Natsu, who stood yards apart.

"Are you ready, Mary?" Natsu called to her with a grin, his arms were already on fire. "Don't you dare hold back on me."

She smiled back, "If you say so!" But she didn't go into a fighting stance like Natsu did, she just stood like normal, her hands were even in the pockets of her shorts.

Without another word he rushed at her, his fists flaming, with a battle cry. She easily dodged the simple punch that was being thrown at her by stepping to the side.

_You're open, _Mary thought as she swung her leg at his back. Before her foot made contact with his back, she made her aura surround it to make her kick stronger. Her kick made him fly forward a few meters before he regained his composure.

_Damn, I should know her fighting style. I've fought with her on several different jobs. But she's never used her magic before in front of me, so it's almost completely different. _Natsu stared at Mary, trying to think of a strategy.

Again he ran towards her, both of his fists still on fire. He began throwing punches like crazy, he was pretty fast. But Mary was faster, she easily moved her head to either side so the punches missed her.

"Natsu, you cant defeat me if you just fight random-" Mary began but was interrupted by Natsu shouting.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" He barely finished his last word before a pillar of fire began violently coming out of his mouth.

"Tch," Mary withdrew her hands from her pockets and placed her arms in an X formation to cover her face as she used her Nen as a force field. It covered her whole body so she felt none of the heat of his fire, and they just swerved around her. _So that was his plan. He distracted me right before he Roared. I was too close and wasn't ready for his attack, so it hit me. _Mary was definitely annoyed now.

Gasps could be heard from the crowd when they thought Mary had been scorched. When Natsu's roar had diminished, and they saw she was completely unharmed, cheers started rising.

"I knew you weren't weak enough to be done in by this stupid flame head!" Laxus yelled.

"Yeah! You've got this, Pipsqueak. Show that Salamander how it's done!" This one was from Gajeel. Their cheers made Mary smiled, even almost giggle.

"What the hell, Laxus?! Gajeel?!" Natsu screamed at his fellow guild wizards. She took this opportunity to attack.

She pushed off the ball of her foot towards Natsu, and her incredible speed made her disappear for a moment before everyone saw her in front of Natsu, her flame covered fist hitting his gut. She had used her fire to strengthen the blow, so it made the unprepared pinkette fly several meters away.

He slowly got to his knees, clearly the breath had been knocked out of him. He shakily wiped his mouth but couldn't get up to his feet, he could only glare at Mary.

Hoots and hollers took over the crowd. Mary had clearly won. Like a good friend, she walked over to the fallen Natsu.

"I can still fight," He insisted.

She shook her head and gave him a small smile, "We're done for the day. We can fight again later," She held out a hand for him to grab. Reluctantly, he grabbed it and Mary helped pull him up.

"You're a good fighter. You just need to stop leaving yourself open. And you can't just attack without thinking," Mary smiled warmly at him, and surprisingly he returned the smile. Neither of them noticed that their hands were still locked together, but when Mary did, she blushed and quickly pulled her hand away and took a shy step back.

Natsu tensed when he smelled another, new scent. He could barely smell it, but it was definitely there. Seconds later, a young boy with spiky white hair and blue eyes appeared at Mary's side with a dagger poised at her throat.

He was pale, and had a white loose t-shirt over a navy under armour. His shorts were periwinkle and he had purple and white shoes.

"If anybody moves, I will kill her," He said, his voice dark and low, but it carried out to the entire crowd. The crowd stood frozen and shocked at the scene before them. "And if you use Nen, I'll slice your throat," The boy directed this at Mary.

Mary tensed, well so did the whole crowd.

But she smirked when she realized this voice was familiar.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled, "Don't you dare touch her!" He spoke what everyone was thinking.

"Kil." Mary said.

_Huh? Did she say kill?! _Natsu was very confused.

"Ehhh? You're no fun!" The white haired boy sighed and dropped the dagger before resting a hand on her arm.

A powerful electric current that ran through her body unexpectedly made her throw her head back, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her arms were slightly outstretched at her sides. You could see the blue lightning surrounding her.

"LAXUS! WHATEVER THE HELL YOU'RE DOING, STOP!" Natsu yelled at the blonde man.

"I'm not doing a thing you punk!" Laxus angrily yelled at Natsu, but worry was clearly showing in his eyes.

The young boy smirked, and Natsu realized this was his doing.

"Why you..." Natsu growled and took a step towards the young boy.

Before Natsu could land a punch on the kid, Mary let out a sound of annoyance, still clearly being electrocuted. She swiveled and punched the boy in the face, making him fall on his butt. When his hand lost contact with her skin, the electricity stopped.

Everyone stared in shocked confusion as Mary glared at the little boy, who was laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach.

"You stupid brat!" Mary yelled.

"Bahaha!" The boy continued to laugh as Elfman and Gray picked him up by his arms to stop his escape. "You should've seen your face, sis!"

"Sis...?" People echoed, confused.

"And besides, I know you could endure it. That shock should've been enough to leave an average sized man foaming at the mouth, but with what we've been through, that shouldn't have damaged you," The boy smiled, completely ignoring that fact that Elfman and Gray were holding him up off the ground by his arms.

"That doesn't mean it didn't hurt, you brat!" Mary rolled her eyes and pulled her younger brother from the grasps of the two male wizards. She hugged him tightly, causing him to complain.

"Hey! You're boobs are suffocating me!" He flailed around, trying to escape.

"I haven't seen you in forever, Killua!" Mary exclaimed with happiness.

Elfman and Gray sweat-dropped, "She seems to have forgotten what just happened..."

Another boy dropped from a nearby tree. This one looked about the same age as Killua, but with black hair that had a tint of green. His hair stood straight up and he had wide innocent hazel eyes. He wore a green outfit and a backpack with a fishing pole sticking out of it rested on his back.

"Hiiii, Mary-san!" The black haired boy waved and grinned happily.

Mary looked up and let go of Killua to smile and wave at the other boy.

"Hey, Gon-kun! Long time no see!" She walked over to him and rested a hand on his head. Gon and Mary had met several times previously, and they actually got along great. But she hadn't seen these two in months.

Killua turned to the two male wizards who had captured him.

"Oh, you two couldn't have restrained me for much longer if I decided that I was annoyed with you," Killua said to them, completely serious. This made the two step back nervously.

"Hey everyone! Let's go back to the guild hall!" Lucy called helpfully.

/ / / / /

"So you're Killua, Mary's younger brother," Wendy pointed at the white haired boy, "And you're his best friend, Gon," Wendy shifted her finger to the black hair boy. The two boys nodded.

"Hm, Mary and Killua do have the same eye color," Lucy added.

The siblings looked at each other's blue eyes and grinned.

"Whew, you scared me back there, Mary," Natsu smiled and plopped down next to Mary. The usual group was all sitting at a table in the guild hall and everything had calmed down significantly.

Mary giggled and rubbed Natsu's pink hair, subconsciously leaving her hand there as she turned to her younger brother and friend.

"So what are you guys doing in Magnolia? Were you looking for me?" She directed this question specifically at Killua, who scratched his right eyebrow as he answered. Mary understood what he was trying to signal.

"Kinda, we got sucked into the Nen you used to get to this other world. Since it was so powerful, it left a few particles behind, and it was a bit delayed. So when we got here, you were no where to be seen. I predict we got here about a week after you," Killua explained.

"Mm!" Gon nodded once, "So we kind of just wandered around hoping to get a sense of where you were."

"Then we felt this powerful aura while in the woods, turns out it was you."

"You're presence is hard to miss, Mary-san. Especially when you're fighting!" Gon said, as cheery as ever.

"Oops," Mary giggled with a tilt of her head.

"Mary! Lucy! Could you come here and help me bring out the food!" Mirajane called from inside the kitchen. The two girls gladly got up and chatted happily all the way to where Mira was.

"Hey," Killua spoke after a while.

Natsu looked up, surprised when Killua addressed him.

"I haven't seen my sis this happy in a long time. It's a rare thing to see my sister's real smile back home. And I heard that she barely ever smiled, even a fake one, after I left," Killua said calmly.

Natsu looked over to where Killua was looking.

Mary, who was easily balancing plates of food, was laughing hard at Lucy, who was yelling at Happy for almost tripping her. Which would've made the food she was holding spill everywhere.

Natsu smiled warmly, "Fairy Tail is her home now. And I'll do anything to keep her happy," He kept smiling like a fool at Mary, but made a surprised noise when he noticed the look Killua was giving him. "Er, I'd do anything to keep all of my friends smiling," Natsu chuckled nervously as her corrected himself.

"Good, and if I find out you've hurt her in anyway, I'll kill you," Killua's eyes darkened, making Natsu scoot away nervously.

"Um, I think the protective older sibling role is switched with those two somehow," Gray and Wendy chuckled from the other side of the table.

"Guys! Food is here!" Lucy and Mary said in unison as they set plates of food down in front of their little gang.

"Yes! I'm starving!" Natsu, Killua, and Gon cheered before gladly digging in.

A few minutes into their meal and the three boys had already cleared their plates. Before they could whine for more, church bells started ringing continuously.

"What's happening?" Mary looked around.

"Gildarts!" Natsu excitedly exclaimed. The whole guild ran over to the windows. "Come on!" Natsu grinned before grabbing Mary by the hand and dragging her to one of the open windows.


	4. Chapter 4

"We wanna watch too!" Killua shoved Mary into Natsu, to make room for him and Gon at the window.

"Kil!" Mary scolded.

He smiled mischieviously just as the ground started to shake.

The three new comers watched in fascination as the town of Magnolia began to separate. Two stone walls on either side of the split began to rise, taking the whole town with it. The ending result was a path leading straight to the doors of Fairy Tail, closed in by the two high stone walls.

"Woah..."

"It's called the Gildarts' Shift. It happens when Gildarts comes back to town," Natsu explained, his face bright with delight.

"You modified this whole town just to let in this guy?" Killua asked.

"That's how destructive he is. If his mind wanders, he could end up walking straight through some buildings and destroying things," Mira explained further. She had popped out of nowhere with Lucy at her side.

"Don't worry, I was really surprised the first time I witnessed this too," Lucy laughed, "He's supposed to be Fairy Tail's strongest wizard!"

"Supposed to be?! Are you kidding me? He's the strongest wizard I've ever met!" Natsu corrected his blonde friend.

"He sounds like a monster..." Mary mumbled.

"There he is!" Natsu pointed out the window.  
Walking slowly down the lonely path was a large, well-built man with slicked back orange hair. He carried a small tattered pack and a brown cloak was draped over his broad shoulders to cover his entire body. he walked with his eyes shut, obviously lost in thought.

"He definitely looks strong," Mary commented.

"I can feel the power coming off him in waves..." Gon added.

"Tch, I bet I could kill him," Killua said cockily with his arms crossed.

Natsu let out a strange noise of happiness and fire spewed from his mouth as he went to go join the others in their celebration.

"He's obviously very popular around here," Mary said wistfully, watching everyone in the guild celebrate just over a man. People were even being thrown in the air out of joy. A party was starting.

She turned around to face out the window again and she leaned on the windowsill, her chin resting on her hand. She watched as Gildarts made his way to the front entrance and a thought came to her mind.

_I wonder what it's like to have so many people happy to see you. Must be nice.. _Her thoughts made her frown, and she was jealous of this Gildarts character. I mean it's not like she could do anything about it. She was just simply jealous that everyone could be overjoyed just with the thought of Gildarts.

Killua noticed the look on his sister's face as she stared out the window, lost in thought. He knew that look. It was her sad/wishful thinking look. It pissed him off when his sister got like this, because he didn't have the guts to ask his own sister what was wrong so he could make her feel better. When they all lived back home, it was usually always his fault that Mary got punished. He'd do something reckless and Mary would stand up for him when he got in trouble. He would devise plans to escape the house, and he would drag her along with him.

He was only very young back then, so he didn't think that Mary would get in trouble until he actually saw her be punished by Milluki. It pained him to see his sister anything but happy, she was the only person he'd ever actually cared for until he met Gon and the others. But Killua being Killua, he was too embarrassed to ask her the real reason for her sadness, and he'd just try to figure it out himself.

But he was different after he'd met Gon. So he asked her, "Sis, what's wrong? You have that sad look on your face again." This question made Gon's attention shift to the Zoldyck siblings,

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking how nice it'd be to have all of these people happy to see me. Do you see how excited they are to know that this Gildarts person is home?" She gave the two boys a smile to reassure them, but it was kind of a sad one.

Her answer made Killua's eyebrows raise. He didn't expect it to be something as simple as that.

Gon leaned forward quite a bit towards Mary, pushing Killua out of the way. "I'm happy I got to see you today, Mary-san!" He burst.

"Yeah... I am too.." Killua rubbed the back of his head and looked down at the floor. Mary knew how hard it was for Kil to express his feelings, nevertheless, the words that came out of the boys' mouths made her grin happily.

Out of nowhere a thought popped into her mind, reminding her of something that happened earlier.

"Kil, remember when I asked you why you were here a few little bit ago. You scratched your right eyebrow, indicating that it was a cover up. Why are you two really here?"

The two boys looked around suspiciously, making sure no one was in ear shot of them. Everyone was partying and having the times of their lives as Gildarts took his precious time getting here, so no one paid attention to them.

"We didn't get sucked into the vortex by the Nen aftermath. We came here ourselves, to warn you," Gon said. Mary narrowed her eyes, telling them to explain further.

"The family is looking for you everywhere. Then they realized that the Nen portal had been used, so they figured you had ran away again. You know how mom feels about the two of us running away. We have potential or some kind of bull," Killua sighed.

"But dad set you free," She reminded him.

"Yeah, but no one said that _you _could leave," Killua stated. Mary clenched her jaw as she remembered this.

"I bribed Milluki with some video game or something and got him to tell me some information. Apparently Illumi is coming here to retrieve you soon. They're making preparations for him to leave as we speak," Killua said gravely. "He then said something about how he heard Illumi talking to Hisoka on the phone about this whole situation."

Mary flinched and clutched the edge of the windowsill with such force it cracked. Her teeth were clenched and her thin eyebrows were furrowed. She stared at the ground, her negative thoughts taking over her mind.

"Do they know you're here?" She finally asked her brother, who shook his head. "They'll probably punish you both too if they find you, I don't want that to happen," She looked at the boys' young faces and refused to let Illumi hurt them under her watch.

"We'll protect you, Mary-san!" Gon said helpfully.

"No!" She snapped. "I'm not letting them touch you two. You both have to stay with me at all times, and when I sense them coming, you need to use Zetsu like you've never used Zetsu before and hide." Mary had this knack for sensing people's auras when they were still quite far away, way before they could sense hers.

"We're not just gonna watch as he takes you away and punishes only you!" Killua yelled. Both of the boys' fists were clenched in determination. "If the three of us work together, we might stand a chance against him!"

"Shut up, Killua!" Mary yelled back, "Did you bother to think if Hisoka actually tagged along? What would happen then? We don't stand a chance against both of them at the same time!" Mary was right, even if Illumi were their brother, he was older and therefore more experienced. It wasn't like Mary was the strongest in the family. Not at all. llumi could kick her ass in no time.

"But we've fought along side Hisoka before" Gon persisted.

"Yeah! He has a thing for Gon."

"Well he's not gonna let his soft side get the better of him in front of Illumi of all people. And what if I ended up fighting Hisoka, no one could protect you against Illumi."

"We've gotten stronger!" Killua took a step forward and Gon nodded. To prove their strength, they unleashed their Ren.

Over on practically the other side of room, Natsu sensed the rise of power, then he smelled someone's fear. Who would be scared at a time like this? When Gildarts was coming. He looked around curiously. Strangely, he was the only one who sensed this. Maybe everyone thought the power was coming from Gildarts, who would be here any minute. And no one had as good of a nose as him, so they couldn't smell the fear.

He noticed Mary where he had left her with the two boys. The fear was coming from her. The two boys were releasing a crazy amount of power, but Mary only looked frustrated and sad. The kids weren't the reason she was scared. He wanted to know what was going on, so he began making his way to the other side of the room, which wasn't an easy task because the entire guild was going crazy.

_They really have gotten a lot stronger since I last saw them, _Mary thought as she watched the two boys. "Just because you can do that with your Ren, doesn't mean you have the ability to fight well enough to beat Illumi."

"You don't know that!" Killua snapped.

"If you two can beat me in a fight, I'll let you show yourself when they come," Mary suggested. She knew very well that they wouldn't be able to beat her, and Killua knew this as well, that's why he'd hesitated.

"Deal!" Gon nodded once before walking out the back door of Fairy Tail.

"Gon!" Killua called after him with his brow furrowed, reluctantly he ran after his friend. Mary crossed her arms and followed them, oblivious to the fact that Natsu was trying to reach her.

/ / / / /

_She doesn't even look winded while me and Gon are practically done for, _Killua thought as he stared down at his opponent, Mary. This was true, the fight had started almost 10 minutes ago, but Mary didn't look tired at all. Gon and himself were using almost all of their power to try to land even a scratch on her.

The three had moved outside behind the guild hall, so as to not disturb the people's celebration.

"Are you finished?" She called over to the two boys, who were a few yards away from her. They were both panting and just staring at her, forming a strategy. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could sense people watching her, but her mind was too full of thoughts to care.

"Not yet!" The always determined Gon yelled before walking over to Killua, probably to talk about a plan of attack.

"We can try that," Killua nodded after a few moments of talking. Without another word he dashed at Mary.

Several feet away from her, he disappeared and Mary realized Gon wasn't in his original spot either. She immediately got into a defensive stance. _Behind!_ Her eyes widened and she focused Gyo in her back just seconds before Killua hit her and disappeared. The second he disappeared Gon appeared in front of her, his fist ready with a little bit of Ko.

Mary's eyebrows rose, she somewhat expected this, but didn't fully process it. It was too late to dodge, so she focused her aura in her hands and caught his fist with both of hers. Gon furrowed his eyebrows before snatching his arm back and jumping backwards. Killua appeared at his side.

"Good grief, can we get this over with?" she put a hand on her hip and looked at the two boys, both of them had been roughed up quite a bit, and Mary hadn't even been using her full strength. There was no way these two could win against Illumi.

"Gon," Killua said. Gon nodded before walking forward a little bit. He got into a stance she had never seen him in before, his right fist clenched. An immense amount of golden orange aura surrounded him and Mary tilted her head, observing him curiously. So this was his true power.

"First comes rock..." Gon mumbled as that orange aura made it's away to his fist. "Rock.. Paper... Rock!" He screamed before coming at Mary, fast, his fist surrounded by his powerful orange aura. At the last second he jumped up a bit, so he was coming at her at an angle.

Her eyes widened and by the time she realized what was happening, it was too late to dodge. So she lifted up her left arm in front of her face, using her right hand to brace it, and concentrated aura in her forearm. She used Gyo in her legs as well, preventing her legs from breaking from the impact. Because of the aura in her leg, her arm wasn't as fully protected as it could've been.

As soon as Gon hit her arm, she gasped. Her bone was everything except completely shattered. Since he was a little bit above her, his punch pushed her down. But because of the aura in her legs, she stayed standing, and the ground underneath her cracked in a circle under Gon's power. She was correct in deciding to put aura in her legs.

She had truly underestimated these boys. But they still hadn't managed to defeat her, and they looked like they were done for by the way Gon was panting after his last attack.

Mary bent over and squeezed her eyes shut while clutching her arm. She lied and told herself that it didn't hurt. It was only broken, this injury wasn't life threatening. It took her about a minute to compose herself and stand back up, dropping her arm to the side, ignoring the pain shooting from it. She was just glad her jacket covered her messed up arm. She didn't want the others to see the state she imagined it was in and start to worry over her.

"I underestimated you two. You've clearly grown. But I can see that you're done. And you didn't manage to defeat me. I wasn't even at my full strength. Illumi is double my strength. Plus Hisoka, they're unbeatable even if we team up." Mary walked over to the two, who had frowns on their faces. Her arm hung at her side uselessly. "A deal is a deal." She stated before walking away from the two, who were staring at the ground angrily.

"Oh. Hey." She greeted as she walked up to the small group that was waiting by the back entrance, watching the fight. Natsu, Gildarts, Makarov, and Lucy. Everyone else was inside enjoying the party, even without it's guest of honor, Gildarts. The people inside had no clue of what was going on outside. Natsu and Lucy stared at her in awe, while the Master and Gildarts looked at her with an examining expression.

"That was amazing!" Lucy and Natsu both gushed at the same time.

"You're pretty strong for a girl your size," Gildarts smiled. "I'm Gildarts. You must be new," He held out a hand for her to shake. Strangely, he held out his left one. Usually people put out their right hands for a shake.

_I can't lift my left arm. He must've realized this, that's why he put up his left one. _Mary thought, annoyed. But on the outside she smiled like nothing was the matter and ignored his hand instead of shaking it like normal people.

"Yeah, I'm new. My name is Mary! Nice to meet you!"

Gildarts frowned. He definitely knew. Mary tilted her head to the side and smiled innocently as she tried to maneuver around the group to get inside the building. She'd get Wendy to heal her arm before anyone saw. Something she hated a lot was people worrying over her.

"Sis," Killua called, making her stop right before she opened the door. "Let me see your arm." Killua knew what Mary's problem was. She disliked people fussing over her, she never thinks her problems are important at all, no matter how major they were. She was selfless this way.

_Tch. _She turned around with a fake grin, "What? It's fine. Don't worry."

"Liar! No matter how much aura you put into it, it wasn't enough because you used Gyo in your legs too. Even he can tell," Killua pointed at Gildarts. So he had noticed the way Gildarts put out his left hand to shake. "Let me see it." Killua held out his hand and put his other on his hip. The others watched in curiosity as she slowly made her way to her little brother.

When she stood in front of him, he wiggled his fingers impatiently.

"I can't lift it," She mumbled quietly, embarrassed. Everyone could hear her though, because they were all suddenly surrounding the siblings. Natsu's eyebrows rose.

Killua quickly but gently grabbed her arm and pushed up the sleeve of her jacket, making Mary flinch at his touch.

"Idiot! The bone is practically shattered!" Killua said the second he saw it. Everyone's eyes widened and Gon and Killua even looked a bit guilty as they saw how her skin had already turned purple and bruised, and it was very swollen. The bone was a bit curved in where Gon had hit it. (Nasty. xD Sorry haha) Lucy gasped and put her hand to her mouth. Even Gildarts and Makarov looked shaken. Her arm rested on Killua's hand as he tried to handle it gently.

"I'm sorry, Mary-san," Gon looked down at the ground guiltily. Mary looked at the boy and felt sorry for him. She didn't blame him at all, the thought never even crossed her mind.

"It's okay, Gon. I don't blame you. After all, you guys were trying to prove your strength to me, for a good reason," Mary patted the boy on his head with her good arm. Gon looked up and grinned at her, causing her to smile down at the boy. A real smile this time.

"Lucy, go find Wendy," Makarov ordered, Lucy immediately nodded before running off. "You three, come to my office after Mary is done getting healed," He directed at Mary, Gon, and Killua.

"Yeah, I'd like to get to know you more too," Gildarts chuckled once before following Makarov inside.

Natsu was pissed, and he didn't even know why. He stared at Mary's completely broken arm, he didn't notice that he was slightly shaking. That must've hurt like crazy, does she not feel pain?

"Mary. Does it hurt?" Natsu asked slowly, his eyes shadowed because his head was down.

Mary looked at him, he didn't look very happy. She wondered why. Well, she saw no benefit in lying to him.

"Incredibly. It definitely hurts. If I wasn't who I was, I'd be passed out from the pain," Mary shrugged, "Gon certainly packs a punch," She added before turning and walking away to find Wendy and Lucy.

Natsu was even more shaken and he stared after her with wide eyes. She seemed completely fine, how could she act normal if it hurt as much as she said it did. Natsu could just imagine the pain.

"She's not lying, ya know. Just because we were raised and trained to endure pain, doesn't mean we can't feel it," Killua looked up at Natsu, his hands in his pockets. "Gon's _Jajanken: Rock_ is powerful enough to turn a gigantic boulder to dust," Natsu's eyes widened at this, and he looked at Gon for confirmation. He nodded.

"Then how does she walk around like it's nothing?!" Natsu was mad again, and he had no idea why.

"She's selfless. She doesn't like it when people worry over her. She believes that her problems aren't the least bit important, and she doesn't want to burden anyone with them. So she keeps it all in," Killua informed before walking back into the guild, leaving Gon and Natsu alone.

"That's crazy..." Natsu mumbled.

Gon looked up at the pink haired one and smiled, "That's what I first thought when I met Killua. He thinks kind of the same way," Gon remembered the time on Greed Island when they had played dodge-ball against the pirates. Gon kept using his Jajanken: Rock to hit the ball out of Killua's hands, he knew he was hurting his friend, but Killua didn't say a word. His hands were messed up for weeks after that.

"What are they?" Natsu questioned, surely Killua's best friend would know if they were keeping a secret.

Gon raised his eyebrows and rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile on his face, "Well, that's not something I should tell you. Mary should be the one to tell you!" He grinned before running inside.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wow, Mary-san. You're arm is really damaged. The bone is almost completely shattered," Wendy exclaimed as she examined it. "How'd it happen?" She asked curiously as Killua walked up, followed by Gon.

Wendy, Carla, Lucy, and Mary were sitting in an empty, quiet corner of the guild hall. Wendy seemed relieved that they had asked for her help, it was her chance to get away from the rowdiness of the party.

"Ah, we were just messing around," Mary chuckled and pointed to Killua and Gon.

"That was messing around?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I find it hard to believe that you shattered your arm just by playing around," Carla said haughtily.

"Carla!" Wendy scolded. _But she's right. It'd need something very powerful to cause this much damage, and how can she be walking around like she was completely fine?!_

"Heh, it's okay. And Wendy, you don't have to heal it completely. I'd feel guilty if I wasted your energy like that," Mary told Wendy kindly.

"Okay, it'd be better if it healed somewhat on it's own anyways. I'll just fix the major parts of it, but you'll have to minimize it's movement for a couple weeks," Wendy warned as she got to work. A cool blue light surrounded Mary's arm where Wendy's hands hovered over it. Cracking could be heard as pieces of bone were put back in place. The swelling went down significantly and it straightened out.

Gon and Killua stared in wonder, "Wow! That's amazing, Wendy!" They exclaimed when she had finished.

"Heh, thanks. Do you boys want healing as well?" Wendy smiled at the two boys sheepishly and looked at their cuts and bruises. In addition to those cuts and bruises, Mary had given Gon a swollen eye, and Killua a bloody lip.

"Huh?" The boys examined themselves like they didn't know they'd been injured. "Nah, they're only minor!"

Wendy nodded then turned and grabbed a roll of gauze that was sitting on the table. "I'm gonna wrap your arm so it doesn't move around much. Try not to over do it," Wendy smiled at Mary as she started to wrap the bandages around her arm.

"How does it feel?" Lucy asked.

"A lot better. It doesn't hurt as much anymore," Mary grinned. Wendy finished and proudly examined her handiwork. "Oh, I have to go talk to Master Makarov," Mary remembered before walking towards his office, dragging the two boys along with her.

After one knock, she peeked inside, then when she saw they were in there she let herself in. Killua and Gon followed close behind.

"Er, you wanted to talk to us?" Makarov sat behind a desk that seemed much to big for his tiny body, and Gildarts towered behind him.

"Yes, don't worry. You aren't in trouble, I'm only curious," Makarov added lightly when he saw her worried expression. Mary let out a sigh of relief. "Who are these two kids?" He looked at Killua and Gon, who stood on either side of Mary. Killua had his hands in his pockets as usual and was looking away. Gon looked at the Master with his normal smile on his face.

"This one is my younger brother, Killua Zoldyck," She rubbed Killua's head. "And this is his best friend, Gon Freecss."

"They're from your world too," Makarov wasn't actually asking a question. "I saw your boys' power. It's quite incredible for someone your age," Makarov complimented the two boys. Gon grinned and thanked him, while Killua remained silent. "Killua. Are you an assassin too?"

Killua looked at the old man with a blank face, then glanced at his sister. Gildarts raised an eyebrow in confusion, though he said nothing.

"Was," He corrected. "I quit, like my sis."

Makarov nodded. "Tell us a bit about yourselves, boys."

"Hmm.. Well Killua and I are both pro Hunters back home. We met each other a while ago during the exam. We're looking for my father, but that's not why we're here," Gon added the last part in to clarify.

"Oh? Why are you two here then?"

"We came to warn Mary!" Gon blurted with out thinking. Mary frowned and glared at the boy while Killua reached behind his sister and smacked his friend in the head angrily. "Ow Killua!" He whined, rubbing the back of his head where Killua hit him.

"Huh? Warn her of what?" Gildarts pressed.

Mary didn't want to involve the guild, there was no doubt her friends would get hurt if they got involved.

"Mm. Family reasons. Don't worry about it. It has nothing to do with the guild, I'm sure it'll be solved soon," Mary waved the subject away with a reassuring smile.

The two men frowned, obviously not believing her, but they let it go. "So, are you two boys planning on staying for a while? We'd be happy to take you in," Makarov said kindly.

Killua and Gon looked up at Mary, then looked at each other. They seemed to share a silent thought.

"We'll be here for a while, but we're not looking to join a guild." Killua stated plainly.

"But thanks for the offer, old man!" Gon grinned. Makarov seemed annoyed at the use of 'old man' while Gildarts hid his chuckle by turning away.

/ / / / /

"Ahh. Well I guess I should get a bit of training in then. They're not gonna waste their time and effort into coming here just to punish me for a bit. And I refuse to go back home," Mary sighed as the three sat outside on the front entrance's steps. "Plus, Hisoka has been wanting to fight me for a while now. He's not gonna let this chance go."

"Huh? You're not gonna join the party?" Lucy stuck her head out of the door. She didn't seem to have heard what Mary just said, so she was clueless. Mary looked back at her and was about to decline before Killua interrupted.

"We were just taking a breather. We'll be in soon," He grinned. Lucy seemed convinced because she smiled and nodded before going back in and shutting the door.

Mary and Gon looked at the white haired kid curiously. He shrugged, "You said you didn't want them to be involved right? Well you can't go around acting all suspicious about it. Idiot, you should know this. Join in on their festivities, and we'll help you train in your free time."

A thought came to Mary's mind. "Oh. When do you anticipate they'll arrive?"

Killua thought about it for a minute. "How long have you been here?"

"About a month and a half."

"Then time works differently between the two places. You were only gone for a week and a half, back in our world." Killua informed.

"That shouldn't have alarmed the family then. I've been gone for much longer during missions."

"But I'm guessing you didn't lie and tell Mom and Dad that you were going on a mission?" Killua asked. Mary shook her head and realized what Killua was going on about. "When you're nowhere to be seen for a week, they know you're not on a mission, and they can tell when the Portal had been used. Then they obviously know that you're not there anymore."

"Tsk. How can I be so stupid?!" She squeezed her eyes shut. But soon opened them and smiled at Killua. "You've gotten smarter." She ruffled his hair like a big sister would.

"It's not like I was dumb before!" Killua yelled. "Anyways," He calmed down, "It takes about a week to prepare the Portal. A week there, is a month here. It'll take them some time to find you. So I'm guessing they'll end up here in a month, possibly a while more."

"A month huh..." Gon repeated wistfully. "Then that's how long Killua and I have to get even stronger so we can fight with you, Mary-san!"

"I already said no," Mary hit Gon in the back of the head. "The deal was you two ignored the fact that I was being taken away. There wasn't an agreement that if you got stronger, you could help." Gon frowned and turned away.

"Well, you two might as well join in on the party and get to know everyone if you're gonna be here for a while. We can train later," Mary stood up and went inside, her thoughts swimming.

/ / / / /

"Oi. Wake up," A foot nudged Mary's head, waking her up. Her head was pounding as she struggled to remember what happened the night before. Oh yeah, it was a party. And now she had a hangover.

She groaned and looked up at Killua and a sleepy looking Gon. "What?" She asked impatiently and looked around the guild hall. It was completely trashed. Tables and chairs were broken, and guild members were asleep in random places. They seemed to be the only ones awake in this room.

"You got drunk last night," Killua informed, well he looked annoyed. "We need to go train. Here, eat this." He tossed two green pills into Mary's hand, she looked at them curiously. "It's medicine, stupid. It'll make your hangover go away."

Mary popped them in her mouth and as soon as she swallowed, her headache was gone and she could think clearly.

"Did it work?" Gon asked. When Mary nodded, he cheered. "Yay! Those were prototypes that we stole from our Doctor friend. He didn't really know what it would do though, so I'm glad it helped!"

Killua glared at Gon, "You weren't supposed to tell her that!"

"What?! You used me as a guinea pig?!" Mary yelled at the two boys, who smiled sheepishly. Her outburst caused a few sleeping guild members to stir. "Oh yeah. We better get started." Mary got up and dusted herself off before leading the two boys out of the guild hall and into the forest.

/

"How's your Emitter stuff going?" Killua asked casually as they entered a forest clearing.

"Mmm.." Mary thought about it. She was a Transmuter like her brother, but she was learning to be an Emitter as well. "It's good, but I'd like it to be stronger," She shrugged. It was already pretty strong as it was, but you can never be too powerful.

"Okay, well for now, we'll do some target practice," Killua suggested. Mary didn't expect him to take it this seriously. "Gon," He looked at his friend. Gon nodded before walking over to a big tree and waiting for his signal.

"Shoot as many birds as you can that fly out of these trees," Killua instructed.

"Ehh? That's easy!" Wait, since when did Killua become qualified to be her temporary Master of sorts. Killua nodded at Gon, who punched the tree in front of him, causing a flock of birds to fly out of it. Mary didn't want to kill them and have a whole bunch of dead birds around her, that'd be creepy, so she just used an orb of aura to throw. It wouldn't kill them like it would if she used her fire, but it would only knock them off course for a moment.

Easily, Mary hit every bird that had taken flight. But she noticed that when she emitted her aura, it wasn't as fast as she'd like it to be. Therefore it didn't hold the power that she wanted.

One after another Gon quickly hit the trees that circled the clearing. Birds kept flying into the air without pause. As soon as Gon was finished with one tree, he ran to the next. Mary frowned, she didn't realize all of these birds would be nesting in the same place.

"Concentrate! Don't let one escape!" Killua yelled at her, making her focus and hit all of the birds. She had to admit, it was a bit difficult.

"Good, you hit all of them," Killua praised her. They continued with a few physical exersizes after that.

"Now let's go to the river," Killua told her about 30 minutes later.

"It's full of fish jumping out of it!" Gon said excitedly before hurrying ahead.

"Your goal is to fry as many fish as you can with your fire, then catch them before they hit the water," Killua demanded as soon as they got to the rushing river. Mary scowled at her little brother, but arguing wouldn't help her much. She observed the river. There were a few rocks sticking out of it, she could use those as stepping stones. "GO!" Killua commanded.

Without a seconds hesitation, Mary used her Nen and fried the first fish she saw that jumped out of the river. Again, the fire aura that she shot out of her hand wasn't as fast as she wanted, but It hit the fish and cooked it through without difficulty. Mary leaped to grab it before it hit the water. Luckily she caught it in time and maneuvered herself so she would land on the nearest rock.

The second she landed, her foot slipped from under her and she fell into the water. _Dammit. I forgot to see if the rocks were slippery from the water. Stupid._ She thought angrily as she broke the surface and looked at Killua and Gon. Gon was laughing his head off, while Killua rolled his eyes at her.

"You're getting soft!" He called as she climbed back on a rock. Now she was soaking wet. Since her jacket was filled with water and was weighing her down, she took it off and threw it at the shore where the boys watched. It landed on Gon's head, since he was too busy laughing to pay attention. Now she was determined, she even tied her long wet hair up into a ponytail.

Now that she knew that some rocks were slippery, it didn't really make it easier, but it made her prepared. So the next fish she caught, she landed on a relatively dry rock. She tossed the cooked fish onto the shore.

"Save those for Happy!" She called, knowing how glad the cat would be if she caught him bunches of fish. One by one she fried fish and caught them, landing on the rocks then tossing them onto the growing pile on the shore. Even if they were slippery, she managed to use Nen and plant her feet firmly.

This was surprisingly tiring for her. The fact that she wasn't an emitter and she was doing emitter things was the main problem.

But soon enough, there was a medium sized pile of cooked fish sitting on the shore. Mary let out a sigh and stood on a rock, wiping the sweat off her brow and putting one hand on her hip.

"Wow Mary-san! You've caught so many fish!" Gon gushed as he stared at the pile of fish on the ground in front of him.

"Okay. Next part is you have to keep going, only this time you have to try not to hit Gon and I as you shoot your fire! If you do, you lose one point!" Killua commanded again. Like her brother, she was very competitive and liked to win. So it wasn't likely that she'd hit one of them. "Don't worry Gon, she's not using enough power to injury us drastically," Killua reassured his friend. They both nodded and appeared on rocks next to her.

_Good grief, can't a girl get a break? _She sighed and focused and shooting her next fish. Just as a ball of fire was about to leave her hand, Gon jumped right in front of the fish she was about to hit.

"Hey! What the hell, Gon?!" The boy only grinned as he disappeared again just as the fish landed safely back in the water. _This was gonna be harder than I thought._

After about 10 minutes, she'd only managed to get 5 fish, and she was tired. The heat of the sun wasn't helping either, but she sensed a presence in the trees behind her. More than one actually. Because of the whole Illumi situation, it made them paranoid. What if they had come much earlier than they suspected. She made eye contact with her brother, who gave her a barely visible nod.

They pretended to continue their training, Killua appeared in front of Mary, in the direction of where they sensed the presence. Mary shot at him, pretending their was a fish near him and knowing he would dodge. He did, and Mary's ball of fire went straight towards the presence. It hit a tree as a warning and three people jumped out from the shadows around the tree she hit, screaming.

"What the hell?! You almost hit us!" Natsu yelled angrily. Lucy and Gray stared at the partially burnt tree in horror. Oh, she shouldn't be surprised that it was them.

"Maybe you shouldn't sneak up on us," Mary shrugged. She knew that she wouldn't have hit them, she made it so they were unharmed.

"We didn't even sneak up on you! We were just watching!" Natsu yelled back. This started an argument between them. Gray and Lucy walked up to Killua and Gon.

"What are you guys doing?" Lucy asked curiously, looking at the pile of fish.

"Helping Mary train," Gon happily informed them.

"Huh? You guys were training?" Natsu stopped arguing with Mary when he heard what Gon said.

"That looked totally hard!" Lucy exclaimed. It was true, it must've taken a lot of accuracy to hit the fish, and speed to catch it before it landed back in the water.

"What were you training for exactly?" Gray asked.

_He's getting too suspicious of me, _Mary thought. "Nothing in particular." She shrugged nonchalantly. Gray knew she was lying.

"Well, continue your training. If you don't mind us watching of course," Lucy smiled and plopped herself down in a grassy area, Natsu and Gray sat next to her.

So the trio from another world went back out onto the river and continued where they had left off.

_She's getting tired. _Natsu thought as he watched. Mary clearly was getting tired in the heat of the sun. He remembered she had told him about the different categories of Nen, the kind of magic her people used. She told him she was a transmuter. Someone who could change their aura, not someone who could shoot aura out. An emitter if he recalled correctly. But yet she was doing it. _This wasn't easy for her with Killua and Gon always jumping in the way like that, and the stones being slippery. _He thought with a frown.

_She was lying, _Gray thought as he watched them. _Why would you go through hard training like this for nothing? But then again maybe she just wanted to become stronger. No, she wouldn't waste her time getting stronger if it was for nothing. She's already strong enough, she finishes the jobs we go on easily. _Gray furrowed his brow as he tried to figure it out. _She's definitely hiding something._

_She worries me. _Lucy thought sadly. They had gotten to be very close friends since that first mission together, especially since they lived together. She'd always save them when they were in a pinch during jobs. But in all of this time, Mary hardly revealed anything about herself to Lucy. _And with what happened yesterday with Mary's arm, she shouldn't be training like this. She pushes herself too hard, and she won't tell anyone when she's tired or hurt. _Lucy could tell that Mary was exhausted. The boys were pushing her to her limits, and for what exactly? It couldn't be nothing like Mary had told them.


	6. Chapter 6

A month slowly passed. Mary tried to keep things as normal as possible. Besides the fact that she would wake up at dawn everyday and train till noon, her routine was relatively the same. She went out on jobs with Natsu, Lucy and Gray. While she was out on jobs, Killua and Gon explored the area or stayed at the guild hall to be entertained by the members.

As the deadline drew dangerously close, the three became more cautious, which lead to her friends suspecting something. Mary told Lucy she wanted to stay with Killua and Gon for a while, so she stayed the nights with them at the inn they were staying in. They stopped the training in the morning and stayed in the guild hall most of the time, chatting with everybody. Mary passed on going on jobs that were far away, or she'd drag Killua and Gon along with her. They didn't argue, Killua was just as scared of Illumi as Mary was, if not more.

"Mary, you've been acting really strange lately," Natsu commented one evening when they were all sitting in the guild hall.

"Have I?" She questioned, acting dumb.

"Yeah, we've all noticed it. Even these two kids are acting weird from when we first met them," Gray pointed to KIllua and Gon, who stuck their tongues out at him.

"Maybe it's the fact that the Master had gone to a conference way far away," Mary shrugged, using that as an excuse to her cautious behavior. "He won't be back for a while you know. Who knows what you rascals are gonna do in that time," Mary chuckled and pointed at Natsu specifically who leaned towards her and stuck his tongue out like a child. "And Gildarts left too. Everybody would act strangely with their strongest wizard gone."

"Sis, can I talk to you?" Killua said before getting up and walking away. Mary stood and followed without a word.

"The month ended three days ago, they could be coming any minute now." Killua reminded her. "Are you sure you want to be around your friends? They could get caught up in it."

Mary nodded, "If I'm not here, Illumi will find Fairy Tail anyway. He'll probably force them to tell him where I am. If-... When they find me here, I'll just go with them without arguing. Then if they start a fight with me, hopefully we'll be far enough away from everyone."

Killua looked at her, his eyes surprisingly filled with worry. He then glanced at the group, who were all laughing with Gon. He'd gotten unintentionally close to them too. He didn't want any of them hurt, especially Gon. But he didn't want Mary hurt either.

"Kil," Mary squatted down so she was eye level with him, "I know Gon will try to come after me. And no doubt Natsu and the others will as well. I want you to do everything you can to keep them here. I can handle myself. They won't kill me. Well, Illumi won't anyway," Mary chuckled nervously and without any humor, "If Hisoka ends up tagging along and insists on fighting me... Then who knows," She shrugged.

Killua hesitated, looking at his beloved sister. She was the only one in his family that he ever actually loved like family. He looked down at the ground and nodded once.

"Hey, did you hear about the attacks on guilds?" Someones conversation caught their attention.

"Yeah, that weird joker guy and his buddy," His conversation partner nodded. Mary and Killua walked over to them, Max and Warren.

"What are you guys talking about?" Mary questioned, Natsu and the others wandered over as well.

"Huh? You didn't hear. Yesterday, a few guilds were attacked. Well not attacked really, but these two strange looking men walked in looking for somebody. When they couldn't get any information, they'd quickly beat the guys to a pulp before disappearing again." Max explained.

"Yeah, no one has ever seen them before," Warren added.

"Do you know what they look like?" Mary asked, clutching the edge of the table.

"One of them had long black hair and black eyes. The other one kind of reminded people of a joker. Both of them are pretty tall and creepy. But that's only what I've heard," Warren said.

Mary was holding the table, and apparently she had squeezed too hard because the wood cracked under her strength. There was no doubt these were the people they were trying to avoid. And Illumi had actually brought Hisoka along with him as well. _Shit._

Mary looked down at Gon and Killua. They're faces were pretty intense too as they processed this information.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked Mary when he noticed how she was acting.

"What? Oh nothing. I just feel sorry for those guilds. They seem pretty scary," Mary laughed nervously as the group left Warren and Max and wandered back to their table.

Natsu smirked, "Well don't ya worry about a thing. We'll beat the crap out of them if they come here," He reassured her. Mary smiled at him briefly before it disappeared and she stared at the surface of the table, thinking. And don't think for a second that Natsu didn't notice this.

"Natsu," Lucy whispered to him. Her and Gray were turned around, their backs facing Mary, Killua, and Gon. So he followed their lead and swiveled in his seat. "Don't you think they're acting kind of odd?" She whispered.

Gray and Natsu nodded.

"Maybe they're just scared?" Natsu suggested.

"Yeah, but it seems like much more than just being scared. It's more like they're terrified," Lucy said.

"Of what? I'll be there to protect everyone," Natsu said confidently.

"Are you stupid? These guys took out whole guilds with just the two of them," Gray whisper-yelled at Natsu, then glanced behind him to see if the other three had heard. They all had sensitive hearing, so he was sure they'd be listening in. He was wrong. Mary had her face in her hands, Killua was glaring at the table surface intensely, and Gon had his head down. "They're definitely shaken," Gray commented when he turned back around.

"Mary! You don't need to be scared because I'll protect you!" Natsu blurted all of sudden, his hands on the table and he was leaning forward quite a bit.

Mary slowly looked up and smiled sadly at the boy she'd grown close to. "It's not me that I'm worried about." His eyes widened and he leaned back. Mary glanced at the clock, it was getting pretty late. "Well, it looks about time for everyone to head home. See you tomorrow," Mary, Killua, and Gon got up without saying another word and left. The usual air of energy that surrounded them was gone.

"Natsu..." Lucy said as the three of them watched Mary and the other two walk out the door. Natsu only nodded.

/ / / / /

"Gon, I know you're awake. Go to sleep, you need your rest," Mary called into the darkness of the room at the inn they were staying at. It was a a medium sized room with three small beds in it. Gon and Killua were in the two opposite of Mary's.

"Killua is awake too!" Gon sat up and whined.

"Hey! Gon!" Killua scolded as he sat up in his bed too.

"Go to sleep you two," Mary said again.

"You're the one who's gonna need rest, Mary-san!" Gon said.

"I can't sleep."

"Neither can we!" Killua blurted, annoyed.

Mary sighed and sat up to face the two kids. She could see them faintly outlined by the moonlight.

"I'll be fine tomorrow. I promise. I can deal with whatever they bring at me," Mary attempted to reassure them.

"But you said Hisoka has always wanted to fight you, now's his chance!" Gon said.

"Well, with all of this harsh training you guys put me through this past month, I'm sure to beat him," Mary lied. Hisoka would not lose in front of Illumi, she knew she wouldn't be able to beat him. But her lie reassured the kids, because they laid back down. "Good night," She called into the darkness. In reply she got half-hearted 'good nights.'

/ / / / /

"Mary!" Lucy called Mary over to her table as soon as she walked into the guild hall with Gon and Killua the next morning. Mary looked over and saw her at a table with Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Erza all looking somber. It was still a bit early, so not many people were at the guild at this time. She was surprised that Natsu was even awake and functioning. She walked over, curious as to what they were up to.

"What's up?" She asked, taking an empty spot in between Gray and Erza. Natsu sat across from her. Killua and Gon managed to squeeze in next to Natsu on the end.

"We've decided to stage an intervention of sorts!" Lucy said a little too excitedly as she pointed to Mary with a grin on her face.

Erza continued for Lucy when she saw the confused expression on Mary's face. "We've all noticed you've been acting quite differently recently. You're energy seemed to have disappeared. Not to mention along with Killua's attitude and Gon's constant laughter."

_Huh. They're not as oblivious as I thought since they noticed the change in my mood, _Mary thought.

"You know we're your friends and Fairy Tail is your home now," Gray started.

"You can tell us anything that's bothering you and we'll do all we can to help," Lucy kind of finished Gray's sentence. Mary glanced at Natsu, it held none of his usual energy. It was one of the few times she'd seen Natsu this serious.

She looked over at Killua and Gon, who were already looking at her. They seemed to read her mind because they both nodded. Mary took a deep breath. She was gonna tell them the truth then.

"I ran away from home, kinda...I'm not supposed to be in your world, let alone be a wizard. My family disapproves of the use of this kind of magic," Mary began.

"Oh! Like Lucy and her dad!" Happy said, a light bulb going off above his head.

Mary nodded, even though she wasn't sure what he was talking about. "Killua and I come from a family of a-" She froze before she could finish her sentence that would reveal the secret she'd been hiding from her friends, her eyes wide and scared. She sensed a powerful presence heading this way. Two of them. And they were both incredibly familiar.

"They're coming," She whispered and looked at Killua and Gon. To anybody else, this would've been quite scary and creepy, but the two boys understood it right away. "Illumi. Hisoka. They're on their way," She repeated. "Use Zetsu now!" She ordered the boys, who automatically hid their presence.

Mary stood up abruptly, which startled everyone and grabbed the two boys by the collars of their shirts, practically dragging them into the Master's office, which was empty because he was gone for the Guild Masters Conference.

"Hide in here until I'm far away. Like we planned," Mary nodded at the two boys.

"But-" Gon started. Mary shut him up with a look. Ropes made out of her fire suddenly surrounded the boys before and they tightened to restrict them from moving.

"If you move, they will get tighter and burn you. If you make a sound, they will get tighter and burn you," Mary warned before shutting the door and hurrying back to the table where everyone was watching curiously. "Act normal," She instructed. "Pretend like you've never heard of Gon or Killua. Pretend like you didn't see what just happened."

Her words, actions, and expression convinced the group because none of them said a word. Natsu burst out laughing.

"So when I confronted this guy about saying dragons weren't real, he was shaking in his boots and trying to act all high and mighty at the same time. You should've seen his face!" Natsu laughed once more and gave a look to the others to do the same. Everyone followed his lead.

"Man, Natsu. Only you would do a thing like that," Gray chuckled.

Mary giggled at the group. She was surprised they all caught on that fast without any questions asked.

The front entrance slammed open. Mary flinched, she knew what would happen next.

Everyone's heads turned at this powerful presence coming from the door.

"It's the joker guy and his buddy!" Someone yelled. "The guild attackers!"

At the door stood Hisoka, his vibrant pink/purple hair styled up, his usual top with the card symbols on it, and a smirk on his face. Next to him stood Illumi. Long straight black hair, emotionless black eyes, and an expressionless face. Mary sucked in a breath and clutched the edge of the table as their eyes swept the room and landed on her.

/ / / / /

**|| Yay! Two chapters in one day. Woo! Anyways, we've finally gotten to a major event! And just so y'all now, I'm not ending the story after this event ends, it's only chapter 6 for crying out loud! I'll continued through out the Tenroujima Arc and the Grand Magic Games arc.(: Stay tuned if you want! Oh, and constructive criticism and reviews are welcomed! But if you're rude then bye! ||**


	7. Chapter 7

"Ah, found you baby sis," Illumi said, devoid of emotion. Hisoka put a hand on his hip and stared at Mary with the usual smirk on his face. "I'm guessing you were anticipating our arrival. As you can see, I brought Hisoka along because you're a stubborn one."

Mary glared at Illumi. She had been mentally preparing for this encounter for a month, but everything that she planned on saying and doing had flown out of her head and she could only glare at them, shaking like a fool.

"Wait a minute..." Erza mumbled.

"Baby sister?!" Natsu freaked and kept looking in between Mary and the two tall creepy looking dudes.

Mary slowly nodded and found her words, "Yeah. That's my big brother. And the other guy just wants to kill me."

"Then Ki-" Happy started before Erza slapped a hand on his mouth, making him shut up before he said Killua's name out loud. They weren't supposed to know about Mary's younger brother.

Illumi only glanced at the blue talking cat, totally unfazed, and reverted his attention back to his sister. "Well, if you'll come with us then. You need to be punished and back home. You know how mother is."

Mary started to stand up from her seat, slowly, and with her head down.

"Hold on a second," Natsu frowned. "Are you planning on taking her away? And what was that about punishing?"

"You didn't hear me? I'm taking her back to our world, where she will be severely punished for running away and using the Portal without permission. Except I'm not really the torturing type, so I'll leave that to Hisoka until we get home, then that's Milluki's job." Illumi stated plainly. "Sister, who are these people?" He looked at Mary and pointed at Natsu.

"We're her friends. And we're not letting you take her, or kill her, that easily!" Natsu growled, his fists flaming. The rest stood up behind Natsu, their faces determined, ready to fight for their friend.

Hisoka's eyebrows rose and he looked at these wizards with a creepy smiled and licked his lips. _Ohh._ Lucy shivered under his gaze, obviously being affected by his creepiness.

"Hm? Friends? Sister, you know you're not capable of having friends. Father and I trained you and Killua both well enough to know you don't need friends. All you need to think about is whether you should kill someone or not. It's as simple as that." Illumi said. "You are devoid of feeling. You have no passion for anything, no desire. These people look up to you, they're amazed by your ability, so you think they're your friends. But really, you could care less about them. You're a killer, nothing more, nothing less."

Mary started shaking even more with his words. Her face was shadowed because her head was still down. Slowly, she began to believe every word he said. I mean Illumi was her older brother. He was always right. She had trained with him for a few years until he was old enough and experienced enough so that he could help their father in training Killua and herself to become the best.

In the Master's office, Killua could hear every word they said. And he frowned at what Illumi was telling her. He had this exact conversation with him months before about Gon. All Killua wanted to do was burst out and yell at him, but he couldn't do that. He noticed that Gon was also shaking with anger as he listened in on the conversation.

"Good grief, didn't I already talk to Killua about this months ago?" Illumi added, more to himself though.

"Shut up! That's where you're wrong. We're definitely her friends, through and through. I don't care what you say. She's part of Fairy Tail now," Natsu was real angry now. "And we'll care for her since her own family won't." Cheers of agreement resounded from Gray, Happy, Lucy, and Erza.

"That's right! If you hurt her, we'll never forgive you!" Gray yelled.

"Aye sir!"

Tears spilled from Mary's eyes, but she kept her head down.

"Of course I care for her. I only want to help her," Illumi was completely unmoved by what Natsu said. Instead he seemed a bit annoyed, even though his facial expression didn't change at all. "But I'm a bit jealous. You all stole my baby sister away from me. Would you please?" Illumi turned to Hisoka. The jester understood what he was asking.

"Why of course," Hisoka said smoothly and took a step forward. With this step, his powerful aura manifested around him causing Natsu and the group to flinch when they felt it surround them. They felt a sense of darkness, and it hit them like a brick. They'd never felt so scared before.

"S-stop," Mary mumbled quietly. Hisoka didn't hear her, but Natsu did. So he pressed forward, trying to shove his way through Hisoka's dark aura that he had directed at the wizards. _Idiot. He's gonna hurt himself._ Mary mentally scolded the dragon slayer, but she still couldn't move. Dammit, this wasn't how she planned it.

Hisoka saw that Natsu's will was strong. He expected that these kids would just be scared and back down after he showed them his Ren. _Huh, that was unexpected. _Hisoka smirked, _It'll be more fun when I kill them. _

"Make it quick," Illumi instructed. Hisoka frowned. Since when did he follow orders from him. But nevertheless, Hisoka sighed and took out one of his cards. It was neatly held between his index finger and middle finger. _This would take care of them quickly._ He flicked the card at them, as a warning.

Natsu scoffed, "What? A playing card." He covered his mouth with his hands as he laughed. The card skimmed his cheek, leaving a cut. As it flew past Natsu, it cut strands of Lucy's hair before it stuck itself in the wall behind them cleanly. The group froze in horror.

Natsu was the first to snap out of it, "I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling. But I'll burn your cards to a crisp before turning you to ash!" He yelled, his arms catching fire once more.

Hisoka raised an eyebrow and more cards appeared in between his fingers with a flick of his wrists. Without hesitating he gracefully threw the whole bunch of them at the group. They were coming too fast for them to dodge, but Natsu was bent on burning them anyways.

_Stupid. You can't burn them with your fire, they're reinforced with his Nen, which is much stronger than your magic.. _Mary thought as she realized she could finally move. Immediately, she appeared in front of the group.

Hiskoa's eyes widened slightly as he let the cards drop before hitting the girl. Illumi would be angry if he had sliced her up.

"Stop. Don't hurt them, I'll go with you," Mary mumbled. She wiped her face clean of tears before looking up at them. "I'll go with you but you can't lay a finger on them."

"Fine," Illumi shrugged.

"Wait. Mary!" Natsu called and tried to grab for her as she walked away. She turned around and he could see the tears shining in her eyes. An unusual pain throbbed in his chest when he saw this.

She smiled sadly, "Thank you. Everyone." Her eyes flickered to Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Happy behind him before she turned away completely and walked over to where the jester and creepy guy were waiting.

As they headed for the door, Gajeel, Lily, and Laxus walked in. ((I just now remembered that Laxus was supposed to be banished from the guild a while ago. Well too late now, let's just pretend he was never banished. Only suspended for a little bit xD)) He made a weird face when he saw Mary leaving with these two creeps.

"What's going on?" He grabbed Mary's hand in attempt to keep her from walking out the door. He saw that her face was blank, but her eyes were filled with tears and sadness. She didn't say a word to him, but only squeezed his hand that was much larger than hers before slipping out of his grasp.

The guild, well the few members that were inside at the moment, watched in silent shock as those two men took away their friend. The doors closed and it was eerily quiet. A minute later the doors opened again, but the only people who stepped inside were Mira, Lisanna, and Elfman. The siblings looked at the members curiously. They were all still in shock.

Laxus was the first to snap out of it, since he didn't witness much. He pushed through the white haired siblings and looked out the front entrance, expecting to see them walking down the street. They should'nt have been hard to miss. But there were only the usual people milling about, there was no sign of them.

"Did you see Mary walking out with a bunch of creepy guys?" Laxus asked Elfman and his sisters. They all shook their head no.

"Will someone explain what's going on, please?" Lisanna asked when she saw the usually energetic pink haired dragon slayer in a strange state of shock. Even Happy, who was always happy was quiet and looking down at the ground in defeat. Lucy stared at nothing in particular with wide eyes. Erza's fists were clenched. And Gray punched a table, breaking it and unintentionally covering the broken pieces with frost.

Killua and Gon burst out of the Master's office. Everyone saw that they were tied up by ropes of Mary's signature blue fire. But they started to fade before anyone could say anything about it.

_She must be telling us that they're far enough away now that they won't know we were here._ Killua thought as he stretched out his limbs. He looked around the room. It was quiet. Hisoka's cards were laying on the ground with one stuck in the far wall. "Tch."


	8. Chapter 8

Killua and Gon walked over to Natsu and his group, who were still pretty stunned.

"How about it, Salamander. Care to explain?" Gajeel said as him and Laxus and the Strauss siblings joined them as well.

"What do you need to be explained? Those guys took Mary and we have to get her back," Natsu growled.

"I'll explain for you," Killua helped, "Those two men were from my world. The one with black hair was our older brother, Illumi. The other one was Hisoka." Everybody was listening intently.

"My mother is very protective over me and Mary. Because of our potential or some kind of crap. Lucky for me, my father freed me. Unfortunately, Mary was still stuck in that house. And so she decided to leave, even though she wasn't allowed to leave the house unless she was going on a mission. The fact that she traveled to a whole other world freaked my mother out, and she wants her back home. So she sent Illumi, who took Hisoka along with him."

"They don't intend on actually harming her to a point of death, just taking her back home. Where Milluki will punish her even more," Killua continued. "But Hisoka wants to fight her, because he has this weird fetish. And if they do fight, then Mary will certainly die."

"Then it's settled, we have to go after her!" Natsu yelled, Gon jumped up in agreement.

"You'd be an idiot to go after them."

"Why is that, Killua?!" Gon glared at his friend, even though he knew the answer.

"Because they're powerful, Gon! It'd be suicide to go after them! Stuuupid!" Killua yelled back.

"Well I guess I'm an idiot then because I'm gonna go and save _your own_ sister like an idiot that I am!" Gon yelled, they were having a full on argument now.

"Fine! Go ahead, Idiot! It's not my fault if you die!" Killua yelled. After that they just glared at one another, daring the other to say a word.

The wizards watched this whole debacle. Lucy sweat-dropped. "Gon somehow reminds me of a certain dragon slayer I know..." She mumbled, clearly referring to Natsu.

"Are you done?" Gon asked calming down a bit when Killua turned away and crossed his arms indignantly.

Killua nodded, "Yeah. And of course I'm going to have to go with you to save my dumbass of a sister." He grumbled. Gon grinned and cheered.

"W-what just happened..." Gray mumbled.

"Hold on, you just said that these two were incredibly strong, and that it'd be suicidal to go after them," Erza said.

"You just completely changed your mind, Killua," Lucy stated.

Killua looked up at them, "I was gonna go anyways. My sister told me to try and stop Gon from going after her. I tried, and I failed," He shrugged. "Anyways, when Gon has his mind set on something, he won't give up 'till he accomplishes it. And I'm not gonna let him go in there alone."

"Yeah... Gon definitely reminds me of Natsu..." Lucy chuckled sheepishly.

"I'm coming with you!" Natsu said confidently.

"No," Killua rejected right away. Natsu dropped in surprise like a dead weight. Gon smiled sheepishly.

"Why not!?" Natsu yelled, fire spouting from his mouth again.

"Because, we might have to sneak into their base camp. And you're too loud. Plus you're incapable of using Zetsu, so they'll sense your presence quickly." Killua said simply.

"How do you know they're staying somewhere? Why don't they just go back home right away?" Erza questioned.

"Because, it takes at least a week to prepare the Portal. It requires a great deal of accumulated Nen that only a Zoldyck possesses that even Illumi can't gather all at once," Killua explained.

_If only the Master were here,we would be able to solve this sooner, _Erza thought with a frown. _But he's at a far away Guild Master's Conference, and there's no way to contact him in time..._

"Okay! So we have a week!" Natsu threw his fist up in the air.

"We," Killua pointed to himself and Gon, "Have a week." He corrected cold-heartedly. "And I would like to get her back sooner, if I can."

Natsu dropped again at Killua's rejection.

"Killua, why don't we just use them for backup. I mean we can't handle Hisoka and Illumi alone. They can be waiting a a little bit away in-case any trouble comes up," Gon tried to convince his friend.

"Yes! Listen to Gon-kun! He knows what he's talking about!" Lucy cheered, pointing at Gon but looking at Killua.

Killua observed the determined looking wizards. _Do they really care enough about Mary to risk their lives to get her back? _He questioned thoughtfully.

"She's our friend, we're gonna get her back ourselves if you don't let us join you," Natsu looked Killua in the eye with an angry and determined face. He wouldn't back down, no matter how many times Killua refused.

Killua turned away from him and looked at the other wizards who were in the smallish gathering. All of them had the same expression, none of them wavering or uncertain. Their spirits reminded him of Gon. Killua sighed in defeat. _You've got a great group of friends here, sis. _

"Fine," He consented, causing them to smile happily. "But I can't take all of you. I can only bring three," He held up three fingers. He was not gonna be responsible for all of them, after all, they were an extremely rowdy bunch.

_Naturally, he'll pick me, _Erza thought with her eyes closed, a hand on her chin, and a confident smile on her face.

_He'll pick me because I'm a man!_ Elfman thought, striking a pose which probably would've looked strange to the people watching him.

Gajeel and Laxus also had confident smirks on their faces, certain that he would pick them.

After conversing with Gon for a few moments, he turned and faced the group. Without a word he nodded in the general direction of Natsu, Gray and Lucy. "You three then. Natsu. Gray. Lucy."

The rest who were so sure they'd get pick had their mouths wide open in surprise and were twitching.

"How..." "Why..." They mumbled incoherently to themselves as the three that were picked cheered happily.

"Sneaking in is no longer an option. Hisoka can sometimes sense people's presence even when they're using Zetsu," Killua turned to Gon, "and now that we have these fools..." Killua rolled his eyes at Natsu and his companions. "Hisoka will be on high alert for now. Illumi isn't gonna let Mary go that easily."

"So what do you think we should do?" Gon questioned.

"I don't think we have any other choice than to just walk in, and be on the defense when they attack," Killua sighed again. This was definitely stressful. "The problem right now is, we have no idea where they're hiding. They could be out of town by now too."

"Well, can't we just run around and if we sense a strong power, then there they are," Gray suggested.

Killua raised his eye brows, "That just might be dumb enough to work. Mary's aura is powerful, and it's hard to miss it. Not to mention Illumi and Hisoka's, but they're probably hiding it. She wouldn't be dumb enough to conceal it at a time like this. But Fiore is massive. There's no guarantee that they stayed in this general area. We'd be running around for ages just hoping to find a tiny bit of Mary's power that we can act on."

"Oh!" Happy raised a paw when an idea popped into his head. "Dragon Slayers have super good smell, Natsu could probably trail their scent!"

"That's my cat for you!" Natsu rubbed Happy on the head with a proud grin.

"And when Cana gets here, we can have her lend us some communication cards for when someone finds something!" Lucy added in. A plan was slowly forming here.

"Speak of the devil," Gray said when the door opened and Cana walked in. She paused when she saw everyone staring at her expectantly.

/ / / / /

_They better not come after me, _Mary thought. But in the back of her mind she knew they were going to anyways. Three of them were in a dark cold stone room somewhere. They had shackled her wrists up high and she was against the wall. They chained her up high enough so she couldn't touch the ground. If she wanted to, she could break the chains, and the other two knew that as well. But they knew she wasn't stupid enough to try and escape now.

"Illumi, I thought you weren't the punishing type," Mary called to her brother. The two men sat on different window sills, looking outside in thought. If they weren't so creepy looking, this would've made a wonderful artistic painting.

"I'm not. I don't physically harm my family members willingly. That's why I brought Hisoka along," Illumi gracefully jumped off the window sill. "Later.. Hisoka, don't kill her," He added as he walked out the door, his right hand up in a motionless wave. "Oh, and if those kids come along before I get back, capture them for me so I can deal with them." He paused and turned around to tell them before continuing his leave.

"You don't strike me as the punishing type either," Mary told Hisoka. _I can't believe he left me with this creep. _She thought, annoyed with her older brother even more now.

"I'm not. But you know that I've been wanting to fight you for a while," Hisoka said in his cool voice. Mary nodded, she did know this. "But Illumi won't let me kill you, so there's no fun in that," He sighed and shrugged. "So I guess I'll just have to settle with torturing- I mean punishing you for your misbehavior on behalf of the Zoldyck family." He smirked at her evilly.

He pulled out a card, she could see the darkness of his Nen coming off of it like a fire. She scrunched her eyebrows together in frustration. Knowing Hisoka, he would not hold back it hurting her. She looked down at herself, her outfit left a lot of her bare skin showing. _Maybe I should wear real clothes once in a while._ She thought bitterly as Hisoka walked towards her, ready with his sharp as a knife playing card.


	9. Chapter 9

Back in the guild, Killua and the rest were enthusiastically working on a plan, while trying to be quick at it too. They sat in a quiet corner of the guild hall just Killua, Gon, Natsu, Lucy and Gray.

After the whole incident, the guild started livening up again because the usual people had arrived. Gon actually thought some members just slept in there because he would always see them. But since he had gotten there early this morning, he learned that that was not the case.

Killua insisted that no one else got involved in this. There were already too many people that was aware of the situation. The line of people who knew stopped after Cana, but only because they needed her for her communication cards. So in reality, not many people knew about the whole thing. But it was too many for Killua, since he was used to living in the shadows and being unnoticed. Also, he took into consideration the fact that if more people knew, more people would try and help. Plus he didn't need Mary yelling at him for getting so many guild members involved. Well, he himself wasn't supposed to go after her either...

"Okay. So let's go over the plan then," Gon said excitedly, even though he tried being serious. "So after we find their hideout, Killua and I walk in first and try to talk to Hisoka and Illumi nicely to let Mary-san go. If that doesn't work, Natsu will come in and beat everyone to a pulp with his almighty powerful magic... and save the damsel in distress..." Gon sweat-dropped as he read the last few sentences. Natsu nodded proudly with his arms crossed.

Gon was reading off of a piece of paper that Natsu had written the plan down on, complete with pictures. Killua dropped his head in his hands. He had absolutely nothing to do with this plan, Natsu had made it up by himself, without asking any of the others for their input.

"So what's the real plan then?" Gray asked impatiently.

"That is the real plan!" Natsu insisted.

"Once we find their base, Gon, Natsu, Gray and I will distract them by starting a fight or something. Lucy will sneak in and free Mary, because no doubt she is being restrained. Once the girls have gotten to safety, we will then find a way to escape," Killua summarized.

Natsu had seemed to calm down, because he nodded along with the others.

"It's not gonna be easy," Killua warned. "I don't even know why you guys are doing this. She's _my_ sister and my older brother as well, so I guess that kind of makes this whole thing my responsibility."

"Isn't it obvious?" Gon voiced. Killua looked at him curiously. "I would do it for you, if you were in Mary's position, Killua. Because you're not only my friend. You're my best friend in the entire world!" Gon grinned happily.

"Hey, Gon! You're embarassing me!" Killua crossed his arms and turned away with a blush as Gon continued to laugh happily. The wizards couldn't help but smile at the two young boys. But Gon was absolutely right. Mary was their friend, and they would do anything to help her.

"Natsu, use the rest of the day to try and sniff her out. We'll continue tomorrow," Killua told the group. Natsu nodded before running out the front door with Happy close behind.

/ / / / /

"Huh? Why are you using Zetsu? You're just wasting even more of your energy if you keep that up," Hisoka commented the next morning as he dragged a corner of a card across her cheek, cutting it.

Mary flinched, she was getting a little tired. She was using Zetsu and in addition she was separately using her Nen as a force-field around her skin, so Hisoka's cuts wouldn't go as deep. She'd strengthen it when he went for her neck or her guild insignia. But Hisoka was much stronger than her, so even though she was protecting herself, he was still able to cut her, even though they wouldn't have been as deep like they would be if Mary wasn't shielding herself.

Right now, she was covered in deep cuts from Hisoka's cards. All over her bare stomach and legs. Her hands and face. Hisoka had even cut through her leather jacket and boots easily. He really wasn't holding back on this, I guess this was his way of making up for not being able to fight her. By putting her in agony.

The deep cuts had blood dripping from them, and the ones that weren't deep compared to the others were still seeping blood. A tiny pool of her blood was beginning to form underneath her.

The cuts itself weren't painful, but since there were so many it would start to sting, even for her it was uncomfortable. The cards were combined with Hisoka's dark aura, so he made it even more painful for her.

"To answer your question, I'm concealing myself because I don't want my friends to use my presence in locating me," Mary answered.

"Hm. Your presence is indeed powerful," Hisoka dragged the card across her Fairy Tail insignia again. Mary used Nen to fortify that area. Right now, the mark was covered in shallow cuts. "You're getting tired," Hisoka smirked. "Anyways, this is getting boring."

Hisoka dragged the palm of his hand across her stomach, smearing her blood. He casually lifted up a leg, and quickly smashed Mary's left ankle with his foot. Mary gasped, not ready for that kind of pain. He dragged his sharp nails down Mary's right leg, causing the cuts that were already there to sting as he went over them. He punched Mary in her left arm, grabbed Mary's right wrist and tightened his grip intensely so there would definitely be a bruise there, then slapped Mary on both cheeks. Mary panted from all of this force that he had delivered in a matter of seconds.

"There, now my Bungee Gum is all over you," Hisoka chuckled before walking across the room. He stood right in front of the entrance, which was directly opposite her. "The rules of this game, is that you try and use Gyo on where you think my card will hit you. Ready go," He wasted no time before taking out his deck of cards. He slid the first one off of the deck and held it up with two fingers. Mary's body glowed pink because of Hisoka's Bungee Gum that was all over her.

_Crap. I'd have to use both Gyo on my eyes to see where the line will come from, and to shield wherever he's gonna hit me. _Mary thought, furrowing her brow.

Hisoka let go of the card, but instead of having it fall to the ground, a line of pink aura quickly snatched it up and pulled it at an incredible speed towards Mary. She followed the line to her own body, and saw that it was connected to her left shoulder. So she focused there. At the last second, the base of the line shifted to her right shoulder just as the card made contact with her skin.

Mary flinched as the card embedded itself in her right shoulder. _So he can move where it will hit at the last minute huh? This'll be tough. _Mary thought with a glare at the jester.

"There's no guarantee that it'll hit in the original spot. You've got to be faster than that, Mary-chan," Hisoka smirked and wagged a finger at her. "I'll definitely have fun with this game during the next few days. I wonder where Illumi is, maybe he'd like to join as well," Hisoka added as an after thought, he looked up, thinking about it.

"Ah well," He shrugged letting another card go. The line on this one lead to her thigh, so she focused there. Again, at the last minute the part of the line that touched her moved to her stomach. She wasn't quick enough to move her aura there either, so this card embedded itself right above her belly button.

Hisoka continued this with an annoying smirk on his face. Mary quickly let go of the strategy of using Gyo on whatever part of the line connected to her at first, and just tried to follow where the line moved at the last minute. With this plan she was able to block 3 cards, but there were still many that had been stuck in her. She was getting tired, and the pain didn't help either.

/ / / / /

"Are you sure this is the place Natsu?" Gray asked as the rest jogged up to the pink haired dragon slayer. The 5 of them stood in front of a run down gray building in the very outskirts of Magnolia. They had split up to search all over Magnolia, hoping to get a sense of her presence. But of course, Natsu was the first one to find her with his nose.

Natsu nodded, "I can definitely smell her here, as well as the creeper joker guy. But I can smell something else too," Natsu sniffed the air a few times more. His eyes widened when he realized what it was. "There's a lot of blood," This seemed to anger the group.

Killua observed the building. It was just a simple square building made of stone and it looked like there was only one entrance. The windows were high up, and the glass on them was broken. The roof had no openings either. It definitely looked creepy and abandoned.

"Lucy, do you think you can get up to one of those windows?" Killua asked, looking up at the windows high above.

Lucy looked up at them as well. She could have one of her spirits toss her up there. "Yeah, I think I can manage," She nodded to Killua.

"Good, go to a window behind the building. On the opposite side of the front entrance. If my hunch is correct, and if Mary is actually being held like a prisoner, they wouldn't put her right next to the front door. And it doesn't look like there are any extra rooms to this place," Killua said.

He didn't feel Illumi's presence, or Mary's either. But he could definitely sense Hisoka's. _Natsu better be right. Since Hisoka is here, he has to be right. _Killua narrowed his eyes at the building, deep in thought.

"Okay. Let's go," Killua sighed. There was no backing down now. Hisoka was sure to have sensed them. He thought before jogging towards the entrance, followed by the others. Lucy ran towards the back of the building.

/ / / / /

"Oh? Looks like your friends came to save you after all," Hisoka said wistfully. His eyebrows rose when he sensed two familiar people. "You didn't tell me your little brother and Gon were here," Hisoka called to Mary, who was shaking.

She shook partly because of the pain that enveloped her entire body, but also because she was angry that they had come to her after all. _Dammit. _

She looked up slightly when the doors burst open, but she didn't have enough energy to lift her head all the way to look. So she only shifted her eyes. She just kind of hung there like a useless rag doll.

Natsu had kicked the door open, behind him stood Gray, Killua, and Gon. All of them looked angry and determined.

Hisoka turned his head, "Welcome," He said simply.

Natsu caught sight of Mary, who was chained up directly across from where they stood. His eyes widened and he took a surprised breath. His reaction alerted the others to look where he was looking and they gasped as well.

Mary's arms were completely outstretched next to her and she hung on the wall by chains, her feet unable to touch the ground. What angered Natsu the most wasn't the fact that she was chained up, but that she was covered in cuts. Long, short, deep, shallow. And that some of the jester's cards were embedded in her skin. A small pool of blood was forming under her from the blood that dripped off of her wounds. He thought she was unconscious, he could tell that most of the energy was gone from her.

"Bastard... I'm gonna kill you!" Natsu yelled furiously, his flaming fist flying towards the back of Hisoka's head. In an instant Hisoka caught it, he hadn't even turned around. Natsu was surprised.

"Natsu... You idiot..." A small, tired voice came from across the room, everyone looked over to Mary. She didn't look like she had spoken at all, because her head was still down, and they thought she was unconscious anyway. But to everyone's surprise she pulled one of the chains from the wall, so she hung from only one arm. The free arm still had the chain attached to her wrist.

Lucy, who was just climbing inside from one of the high windows, watched in fascination when Mary broke free from one of the chains. _Who is she?! Er... If she could do that, what was the point of me coming up here. I was supposed to free her!_ She sulked.

"Hm? What's going on here?" A new voice said from the entrance. Immediately, Killua, Gon and Gray jumped back a few yards, moving closer to the other side of the room. They all knew it was the other creepy man. Mary and Killua's older brother. Natsu freed his hand from the grasp of the jester and jumped back to his comrades as well. They faced Illumi, who was as expressionless as ever.

Lucy dropped down from the window sill, and hurried over to Mary, checking if she was alright.

Illumi took a few steps forward, towards the wizards and kids, who instinctively backed up as he came closer. Hisoka stayed where he was with a smirk and his hands on his hips.

"Oh, looks like you really did a number on Mary-chan," Illumi said when he saw his bloody sister hanging by one arm, "Good job, Hisoka," Illumi praised.

"How could you do this to your own sister?!" Gray yelled at Illumi.

"I didn't. He did..." He pointed to Hisoka, who held up a hand to wave at Gray.

"Oh my god, you know what I mean!"

"Mmm. Well I don't like hurting my baby sister, that's why I brought Hisoka along. It was Mother's orders to punish her until we got home. Then it would be Milluki's job," Illumi shrugged. "Oh. When did Killua and Gon get here?" He seemed to have finally noticed the two kids. Everyone sweat dropped, for a scary guy like him, he is a bit slow on the uptake.

"But now that you've interfered again, it looks like I have to bloody my hands and kill you myself," Illumi took out yellow needles with a ball on top of each one. Natsu gritted his teeth as his fists caught fire once more. Gray started being surrounded by the cold, and even Killua and Gon got ready to defend themselves.

_There's no way Natsu will win against Illumi, _Killua thought bitterly.


	10. Chapter 10

"More like, we're gonna be the ones killing you after what you've done to Mary!" Natsu yelled, oh he was definitely pissed.

Natsu ran at Illumi to land an attack, Illumi easily dodged without effort. Apparently Gray felt the need to go and help him because Gray ran at Illumi as well with a giant ice sword.

Gon and Killua glared at Hisoka, expecting him to attack too.

Hisoka shook his head and held his hand out, "I'm not expecting to fight you anytime soon." _He's not ready yet, _Hisoka thought with a smirk heading in Gon's direction.

Gon and Killua turned to watch the two male wizards fight Illumi. Natsu and Gray were already getting beat up pretty bad, they hadn't even landed one hit on the assassin.

_Illumi isn't even fighting seriously yet. _Killua thought as he observed the fight. Considering they had completely opposite magic abilities, they fought pretty well together.

"Nobody gets away with hurting one of our friends," Gray said as he tried to blast ice at him. Illumi easily dodged by jumping up and kicking Gray in the face.

"Apologize to her!" Natsu roared before sending the actual Fire Dragon's Roar out of his mouth. The slightly older man was surprised by Natsu breathing fire. He was actually surprised by both of their magic, but only because he wasn't used to it.

"Sorry, Mary-chan," Illumi called to his sister without a slight pause in his fight.

"That wasn't even sincere!" Gray said angrily.

The fight was completely one sided, even though it was 2 against 1. Natsu and Gray were losing energy fast without even dealing damage to their opponent. At last, Illumi sent both of them flying with a round-house kick. He left the two sprawled on the ground, trying to regain their breath.

Illumi turned to Gon and Killua, "How about you two?"

Gon took a step forward before Killua grabbed him and held him back. If two strong wizards were no match for his brother, Gon would be killed right away. No matter how much Killua had grown in his time spent travelling and getting stronger, Illumi had also gotten stronger, and Killua was still afraid of him. Dark power radiated off of Illumi. Killua couldn't move. This wouldn't be the first time he was left frozen in front of his older brother in a time of need.

Gon angrily pulled his arm away from Killua before running at Illumi. I guess he was fast enough to surprise him because Gon landed a Ko punch in his gut. Gon had definitely gotten much stronger, because he was the only one to land a hit on this skilled fighter. Illumi was sent backwards, but effortlessly he did a back flip and landed on his feet. Illumi looked completely unaffected. In a flash Illumi was in front of Gon again to kick him in the side of the face.

"Gon!" Killua yelled as his brother's foot landed on the side of Gon's head, sending him flying sideways. In a few moments, Gon slowly got up. He got in the stance that told Killua that he was gonna use his Jajanken.

"First comes rock..." His golden orange aura started manifesting in his right arm. "Rock...Paper... Rock!" He yelled before going at Illumi at full speed, his fist out. Illumi and Hisoka's eyes brows raised. For different reasons though. Illumi was surprised that this boy had so much power. And Hisoka was just turned on by his power.

Easily, Illumi side-stepped to dodge, and right before Gon passed him, he pushed him towards the others. Gon landed on his back near Natsu and Gray, and struggled to get up.

"Idiot..." Killua scolded before he ran over to see if he was okay. He still didn't have the guts to face Illumi.

Lucy, who was still by Mary's side, took a step forward while grabbing one of her keys. She hesitated before running forward, in front of her fallen comrades and yelling. "Gate of the Lion! I open-" Before she could even finish her sentence, Illumi punched her in the stomach, sending her backwards. She landed next to Natsu and Gray. The wind had been completely knocked out of her.

All of them were all conscious, but for some reason, they struggled to get up again. This was strange.

_What the hell. I've never been wiped out this easily before. What kind of family is this?! _Natsu thought as he glared at Illumi.

"That was easier than I expected," Illumi voiced before he took his pins out again. He held one between each finger, just like Hisoka did with his playing cards.

Mary looked at them, they had all fallen relatively near each other. How convenient, _They were completely wiped out in the blink of an eye._ She glanced at her little brother, who was shaking in front of Illumi. She had mixed feelings with him right about now. She was happy that he didn't get involved, because they both knew Killua was no match against Illumi. But then again, she was angry that he was being a coward.

"Killua, you're smart in not fighting me. We've always taught you to never challenge an opponent you can't beat," Illumi praised his younger brother.

Killua gritted his teeth and glared at him, he was still slightly shaking though.

"Well, I guess it's time for you trash to be wiped out," Illumi said calmly. Everyone watched as both Illumi and Hisoka gathered their power into their needles and cards.

_They're gonna throw them at them. There's no way they can dodge in this condition. Killua can, but I doubt he'll leave Gon behind, _Mary thought. She broke the remaining chain that held her against the wall and stumbled when she touched the ground because of lost energy and the ankle Hisoka had most likely broken.

"Mary..." Natsu managed to say. He couldn't believe that she was still strong enough to stand up, considering how much blood she lost and how exhausted she looked.

The second before Illumi and Hisoka released their attacks, Mary appeared right in front of her comrades and put out her arms, creating a blue transparent force field out of her aura right before their attacks hit. Blue light rippled in the air from wherever the pins and cards hit.

Killua looked at his sister in awe. It was a miracle that she could use the little power she had left to create that wide of a force field, since the people that were down were spaced out and slightly apart from each other. The wizards and Gon thought the same exact thing as they watched in wonder.

The pins and cards stuck in the force field. Blue fire enveloped Mary again and her eyes glowed a brighter blue. Her fire caused Hisoka's cards that were still embedded in her skin to burn up and disappear. The two men raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"I thought you were completely out of energy after hours or attempting to protect yourself against me, and using Zetsu at the same time," Hisoka licked his lips in fascination.

Mary flinched as she struggled to keep her shield up. Their pins and cards kept pushing forward, trying to break through. _I can't keep this up much longer... _She didn't even know where she got her sudden burst of power from. All she knew was that it was draining, and fast.

Natsu noticed that she was shaking under the pressure of their combined power. He wasn't surprised, he could tell that she was mentally and physically tired.

The second the needles and cards fell to the ground, the force field disappeared and Mary bent over panting. She glared at Illumi as she tried to get her breath back.

Killua took a hesitant step forward before running at Illumi, his aura turned to electricity around him. Illumi easily swatted him aside like a fly, but Killua did a flip in the air to keep from landing on his back. He went at it again, this time Illumi dodged instead of throwing Killua aside. Hisoka had changed his original position to sit on the window sill that he had been sitting on before and he watched.

Mary grinned at her brother and wiped the blood out of her eyes before glancing at her fallen comrades on the floor behind her. Illumi had beat them up pretty bad. Well Lucy had only fallen with one hit, but still. It pissed her off enough to give her the strength to run forward, her fists covered in blue fire.

"Ah, so it turned into a fight between siblings," Hisoka said wistfully to himself up on the window sill, as he watched Killua and Mary fight against Illumi.

Natsu desperately wanted to get up and fight alongside them, but for some strange reason, he couldn't move at all, he could only just barely move his head around. He saw that it was the same for the others as well.

Lucy noticed something strange. There was something on Gray's neck, right on top of his spine. She squinted and looked closer, it looked familiar. She took in a breath when she realized what it was. It was one of Illumi's needles. From what she could see, it was stuck in Natsu and Gon's necks as well. How could none of them have noticed him put it there? That must be what kept them from moving. It paralyzed them.

"Everyone! One of Illumi's needles is stuck in the backs of our necks, that's why we're paralyzed from the neck down," Lucy informed everyone.

"That bastard!" Gray growled.

Natsu screamed angrily, but stopped when Mary flew over them and crashed into the wall, cracking the area that she had hit. "Mary!"

Incredibly, she got up, her fire wavering.

Natsu and the others were shocked. How could she continue fighting, especially in her condition?! He noticed that her eyes were glowing an intense bright blue. Natsu started screaming furiously when he sensed Mary's anger and desperation. Miraculously, his arm started to move, even though it was slow. He began slowly but surely reaching for the needle in the back of his neck. It was insanely difficult trying to do this, but his will remained solid.

"Illumi! I don't care if you hurt me or rip all my limbs off or even kill me. But the fact that you've hurt my friends is unforgivable!" She growled.

Killua nodded, glancing at Gon. The two siblings jumped high in the air next to each other, putting their hands in front of them. A ball of fire started growing bigger and bigger. Larger than Mary herself, Killua added his electricity with his sister's fire. So it was basically a huge ball of fire and lightning. The power was enough to have Mary's hair blowing around her. When she was ready, the two of them pushed the huge ball of destruction with all of their might towards Illumi. _That's all of the rest of my power, _Mary thought tiredly as she watched the ball of energy fly quickly towards Illumi._ It won't be nearly enough to kill him though._ Killua and herself landed on the ground. Mary stumbled a bit, since she couldn't put any weight in her left leg and she was about to pass out.

The attack was fast, and it hit Illumi head on. A loud boom resounded, the ground shook, and smoke filled the air. Everyone watched in anticipation as they waited for the smoke to clear.

The really weren't expecting Illumi to be standing there just as he was before, only he was a bit scuffed up now. His clothes were a bit burned at the edges as well. Natsu and the others gasped.

Mary let out a groan of annoyance. She should've known that with the state she was in now, it wouldn't have done any good.

"My my, you've gotten stronger, baby sis," Illumi praised. "Even though you can barely stand up, you can manage something like that still." A ringing sound started coming from his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his cell phone. Natsu and the other wizards didn't recognize what this strange machine was though.

Mary, Killua, and Gon sweat dropped. Cell phones worked in this world?! And how was the phone not broken?!

"Hello? Oh, father..." Mary flinched when Illumi greeted their father. "Yes... Mm... She's gotten quite stronger... Okay." He tossed the phone to Mary, who caught it and put it to her ear.

"Father...?" She said hesitantly.

"Illumi tells me you've gotten significantly stronger," Her father's gruff voice sounded from the other end.

"Well... Yeah I suppose so..." Mary wondered why he wasn't mad at her.

"Do you like it there?"

"Er... yeah..." She had no idea where this conversation was going.

"Well. I supposed I can't make you come home. Actually, it wasn't my idea to send Illumi over there anyways. Your mother is a bit too extreme at times," Silva Zoldyck said. "It would be unfair to let Killua have the freedom that you don't. So I'm allowing you to stay."

Mary's eyes grew wide. Was she hallucinating?!

"I'm letting you do as you please on one condition," Silva continued. Mary tensed. "You must keep working hard and growing strong. We can't let a Zoldyck be weak. It's not in our nature."

Mary almost broke out into a grin, "Yes father. I won't disappoint you. The next time I see you, I'll be a lot stronger." Mary didn't intend on going back home, but that didn't guarantee that they wouldn't cross paths once more in the future.

"I'll deal with your mother. And tell Killua he better not be slacking either," Her father said again before hanging up the phone. Mary clutched the phone, she was speechless. She tossed the phone back to Illumi then covered the smile that was on her face.

"Well. I guess that's that. Later, baby sis," Illumi turned around and put a hand up in a wave before heading towards the entrance. Hisoka jumped from the window sill to follow his companion.

"Bye, big brother," Mary called quietly. After the excitement of her father's approval wore off, she remembered how exhausted she was. Her body was completely drained of energy. So her legs gave out, and she started falling to the ground. She expected to hit the cold cement, but instead, arms wrapped around her. She forced her eyes to open only to be greeted by Natsu's grinning face.

Natsu chuckled, "You okay there?"

Mary nodded, "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. See," To prove her point she took a few steps, completely forgetting that Hisoka had smashed her ankle. When she put pressure on her left leg, pain shot up and she stumbled, expecting to face plant. But again, Natsu was there to save her.

"Natsu, you should know by now that when Mary says she's fine. She's lying," Killua called from where he was removing Illumi's pins from the others' necks. A few seconds after, they were able to move their limbs freely.

"Wow Mary, you're amazing!" Gon gushed as Natsu walked up to them with Mary on his back like a piggy back ride.

"No kidding. I could feel that you had almost zero energy left when we got here, but you could still fight like that!" Gray said with a smile.

"You're unreal," Lucy grinned.

Mary smiled tiredly at them, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Can we go home now? I'm tired," She subconsciously nuzzled her face into Natsu's neck before falling asleep. Everybody laughed at the girl. Man, she could be insanely scary and powerful one minute, and the next she could be a cute little girl cuddling someone.


	11. Chapter 11

**|| It's 2 am and I can't sleep so I was like Hey why not write another chapter? Ha, so if any of y'all were thinking 'What's gonna happen since the whole Illumi situation is over?' well I'm gonna keep writing through out the Tenrou arc and the Grand Magic Games arc, adding my own hunter x hunter twist to it! well I'd have to or else it'd basically just be completely Fairy Tail. But yeahhh, stay tuned if ya want. ;P ||**

"Be quiet! She's waking up!" A voice hissed. Mary could feel multiple pairs of eyes on her, and she felt like she was laying in a soft and warm place. Oh. A bed. On instinct, she ducked under the covers before she even opened her eyes, feeling awkward under the gaze of what felt like many people.

"Mary-san?" A familiar voice called, poking the bed sheets. Slowly she pulled the covers down and looked up at everyone who surrounded her bed.

"What are you guys doing surrounding me like this?" She asked curiously. Around her stood Laxus, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, Gajeel, Wendy, Killua, and Gon. The three cats sat on the bed around her feet. "Where am I by the way? This isn't my bed." She added, looking around the room. They were in a small area that was cut off from the rest of the room by a white curtain.

"We're in the guild's infirmary. And everyone's here to see if you're doing alright," Lucy grinned before half way landing on top of Mary to hug her. "Yay! You're okay!" She squealed.

Mary laughed as Laxus pulled Lucy away by the back of her shirt collar like a kitten.

"Are you dumb? She's still recovering! You might hurt her even more!" Laxus scolded the blonde. That was when Mary realized she was covered in bandages.

"Hey. How long have I been in here?" Mary asked Gon.

"You've been sleeping for three days straight," He informed her.

"Gon! You weren't supposed to tell her that!" Killua yelled at his friend.

Mary frowned. She had never slept for that long before. "Why didn't any of you wake me up?! We have to go on some jobs right? I need to help Lucy pay rent," She whined.

Lucy shook her head furiously, "No, no it's okay! After all you've been through you don't need to worry about such a silly thing as rent right now." Mary rolled her eyes, Lucy fussed over her rent all the time.

"You're life energy was almost completely gone. That would been life threatening. And the fact that you didn't have a full nights sleep the 4 nights before this all happened, you deserved it those three days to recover," Killua said.

Erza nodded, "Your magic was definitely drained. You needed your rest."

"Stupid! What were you thinking, pulling stuff like that when you were obviously exhausted!?" Killua yelled before smacking her on the back of the head.

"Ow... Sorry," She smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head.

"Killua!" Everyone scolded the white haired boy.

"Actually Mary, you would think someone strong like you would half tons of magic energy stored within them. But the truth is, you barely have any. How are you so powerful?" Wendy said without thinking, she had found this out when she was healing Mary. Wendy looked down shamefully when she saw everyone looking at her in shock for telling someone they had low magic energy. "I'm sorry... That was insensitive..."

Mary shook her head, "No, it's okay," She turned around to shift the pillows so they would be comfortable as she sat upright, and she flinched, man she really was sore.

"Ah! Don't move to much! We stitched up some of your deeper wounds, and I put the bones in your ankle back in the proper place, so that should be better soon enough," Wendy warned. Mary healed fast on her own, but she gave Wendy a grateful smile.

"Anyways. I have low magic power because I only use just enough to strengthen my Nen, which is already pretty powerful by itself," She explained to the group.

"Oh yeah, we would like a detailed explanation of what your life was like back on your world and where all of this nen nonsense spouted from," Gajeel said with his arms crossed. "You've always given us vague answers when we asked about your family. Even your little brother and the other boy won't answer us straight."

"As brutal as Gajeel is, he's right. We're your friends and we'd like to know. We're not trying to pry, if you don't want to tell us then that's fine. But it'll help us understand you a bit better," Lucy said.

Mary looked at Killua. Both of their eyes had darkened. Neither of them liked talking about their past occupation and family, but Killua was more comfortable with it than she was. Mary closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It would be rude to keep secrets from them when they were so open with her already.

"Killua and I come from a family of famous assassins," Mary said slowly. Killua and herself tensed, waiting for the rest of them to freak out. But they surprisingly remained silent with wide surprised eyes, waiting for her to continue. "That means we have killed many people. BUT that was the past, and we've quit the family business. On our world, it's not a big deal to kill somebody if you had a reason. We were trained since we were babies to kill. We were raised to be the top assassins in the world. We just did what we were told, and if a client wanted a certain person dead and if they paid the right amount, we would do it. No questions asked. That's how we were taught. But that's all in the past now." Mary added.

She looked at the faces of everyone, they all looked surprised and they seemed like they had difficulty soaking the information up. She backed up against the head of the bed and she glanced at Gon and Killua, who's eyes were down cast.

"If you guys don't want someone like me in your guild, then I completely understand. We'll leave as soon as we can," Mary said quietly as she looked down at her lap in shame.

"You're kidding," Natsu said. Mary looked up at him, thinking he was angry or something, "We didn't go through all of that trouble to save you, just to make you leave again." He smiled at her reassuringly. "And besides, we took in Gajeel and he was the one who destroyed our previous guild hall!" Natsu laughed while Gajeel glared at him.

"Yeah, that was the past like you said. We're not gonna change the way we've looked at you the last few months just because of something you had to do because of your family," Gray grinned at her.

"No wonder why you're so tough. The training you've been through must've been intense if your family was top-notch," Laxus placed a large hand on her head with a smile. Oh he had no idea.

"Fairy Tail is your family now. Whatever you did before you joined Fairy Tail is no longer a big deal," Erza smiled at her.

"Anyways, who's gonna help me pay rent if you leave?" Lucy laughed.

Gajeel grinned at her and gently punched her in the arm.

Mary smiled and put her head in her arms to hide the tears that were pooling in her eyes. She hadn't cried in front of anyone in a long time, and that was one thing that wasn't going to change. She sniffled.

"Gajeel! You punched her too hard and made her cry!" Natsu yelled at the iron dragon slayer.

"I didn't even hit her that hard!" Gajeel freaked, not knowing what to do.

Mary wiped her face and eyes dry before looking up and shaking her head. "No. I'm happy," She grinned at her fellow guild members, who all chuckled in relief.

Killua's eyes widened, he hadn't seen her sister cry in ages, much less tears of happiness. _I don't think I've ever seen her cry tears of joy in my entire life. _He thought in awe. _This guild really is something. _Killua turned to Gon, who was already grinning at him as if he had read his mind.

"Out of my way!" A familiar raspy voice demanded. Erza and Wendy parted to let Master Makarov jump onto the foot of Mary's bed. He stood there with his arms crossed.

"Master. I see that you're back from your conference," Mary greeted him nervously. Would he be mad at her or something?

"I heard that one of my brats was being stupid and had gotten seriously injured, so I made one of the people from the council teleport me back as soon as the conference ended. It looks like the rumors were true, you definitely look beat up," Makarov said.

"Ah. You didn't have to do that. I wasn't seriously hurt. Not at all," Mary shook her head.

"Your magic was practically completely gone." Erza said.

"You're life energy was almost done for." Killua stated.

"You were asleep for three days straight." Gon added.

"And you lost too much blood." Natsu finished.

"If you don't call that serious, that I don't know what the hell is wrong with you," Gajeel said with an eye roll.

"Well... I'm all better now," Mary grinned at everyone.

Makarov chuckled, "You definitely belong in this guild. You fit in with everyone else just fine." Everyone nodded enthusiastically at the Master's words.

"Well, now that everything's settled and you're alright. I've gotta go on an S-class quest. See you," Laxus patted Mary on the head once more.

"Laxus! Take me with you!" Mary whined, she's always wanted to go on an S-Class quest ever since Natsu had told her about them. "I'm gonna be bored sitting in bed until I heal!"

Laxus chuckled at the girl, "I'll take you on one when you're all better." He promised before heading towards the door.

"Laxus what the hell!? Why don't you ever take me on S-class quests?!" Natsu yelled at the retreating blonde, who completely ignored him.

"Wait Laxus, you know what time of the year it is, don't you?" Makarov called to his grandson.

Laxus nodded without turning around, "Yeah! But I don't have to be in it since I'm already S-class," He called before shutting the door behind him.

"What a brat. I was gonna ask him to help out," Makarov frowned angrily.

At his words, Natsu and Gray's eyes widened. They remembered what time of the year it was.

"Well gotta go on some jobs! See ya soon!" Gray and Natsu yelled before running out of the room with Happy close behind.

"Huh? What are they talking about?" Lucy asked curiously as she watched Natsu and Gray leave. Wendy, Gajeel, Carla, Lily, and Mary all shrugged. They were clueless as well. Erza and Makarov nodded at each other before heading towards the door as well.

"Oh, Mary! You won't be bored for much longer. I have something that I need you to do soon!" Makarov stopped and turned around as he remembered.

Mary grinned at him happily and nodded enthusiastically. She watched as Erza and Makarov walked out the door.

"I'm gonna go try to see what all the commotion is about!" Wendy announced. "Heal up well, Mary-san!" She added with a smile before walking out the door with Carla, Lucy, Gajeel and Lily.

"And then there were three," Mary stated as she looked around the almost empty room.

"Whatever they were so excited about, it seems important," Gon looked at the door where everyone had gone through.

"Anyways, are you guys gonna head home now?" Mary asked the two boys sadly.

Killua nodded. "Yeah, we started making preparations for the portal right after we got you to the infirmary."

"So you got four days left, huh?"

The two boys nodded. Mary frowned, realizing how much she was gonna miss them.

"Don't worry, Mary-san! We'll see you again soon!" Gon grinned at her, sensing her sadness. She smiled at him, always the sensitive one.


	12. Chapter 12

"I can't believe you guys are leaving," Mary frowned and leaned on the crutch she was supposed to use until her ankle healed completely. It probably would take another week until she could walk on it. Like she said, she was an incredibly fast healer, and Wendy had helped quite a bit.

Mary stood in the room that Killua and Gon had been staying in at the local inn. Four days had passed since Mary had first woken up in the guild infirmary, and it was time to say goodbye to the two kids.

"It won't be the last time you'll see us," Gon said cheerily.

"Yeah, and the next time you see us, we'll be stronger so we can beat you in a fight, sis," Killua smiled while holding his fist up. Mary chuckled, he sounded like Gon.

"I'll be waiting for that day to come," She nodded at the two boys.

They grinned at her before turning around and facing the empty space they had cleared out in the middle of the room. Killua took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A few moments later, he opened them and they were glowing an eerie white. He slashed the air in front of him in an X, and where he had slashed, a glowing white X had appeared in the air. Slowly it grew into a large circle that glowed a bright white and light blue fog surrounded the edges. It was basically a portal made entirely of Zoldyck Nen.

Killua blinked and his eyes had returned back to normal and he examined his handiwork. Everything seemed to be in place.

"Well, later, big sis," Killua turned and waved at Mary.

"Bye, Mary-san!" Gon smiled and held up his entire arm in the air to wave, even though she was right in front of him.

"Later," She smiled sadly at the two kids. No matter how roughly she was raised, she still had feelings.

The two boys then turned and walked towards the portal at the same time. They took their final step in this world before walking straight into the bright light.

Well that's what was supposed to happen. Instead they suddenly stopped right as they touched the surface of the portal, like they had ran into a wall.

"Okay guys. I'll see you later..." Mary prompted as she saw the kids still in the same room.

Killua frowned and attempted to walk through the portal again, only to be stopped again by the weird force that prevented them from going through. Gon tried to walk through as well, only to come back rubbing his face because he had run into the weird wall thing again.

"Killua. What's going on?" Gon asked, annoyed.

Killua shrugged as he tried to stick a hand through the portal, there seemed to be an invisible wall or force field directly on the surface of the portal, blocking their entry. He tried punching it, but that didn't work either. Mary watched curiously as the boys tried attacking the thing, and when that didn't work, they felt all around the surface, hoping for an opening of some sort.

"Why isn't it working?" She asked them.

"Well if we knew, then we wouldn't be furiously trying to get through," Killua frowned. Then his eyes widened in realization. "After Illumi and Hisoka went through, someone must've blocked anyone else from coming through..."

"But why would they do that?" Gon asked.

"Why wouldn't they? They probably didn't want Mary coming back to their world with all of this strange magic. Since mother couldn't have her way of bringing Mary back, she just decided to block the portal so Mary wouldn't come back and show the rest of our siblings the strange magic she had acquired here. She probably thought Mary would corrupt them or something, making them all want to live in this world," Killua's theory was a bit outrageous, but then again, so was their mother.

Mary chuckled sheepishly, "That's some theory you got there..."

"Well it fits mother, doesn't it?"

She couldn't argue with that.

"So what are we gonna do?" Gon frowned, he wanted to continue his search for his father.

Killua sighed, "I guess we have no choice but to stay here for a while until we can find another way through..."

An idea popped into Mary's head. She remembered once that Lucy and Natsu had told her that they had traveled to another world called Edolas or something. They obviously didn't use the same kind of portal that her family used, so maybe they had a way of fixing things.

"Come. Let's go back to the guild. I have an idea," She grinned at the boys, before hopping out the door with her crutch.

/ / / / /

"Edolas?" Lucy said, trying to remember. "Oh yeah! The place where there were clones of us."

"How did you guys get there?" Killua asked.

"Well a huge hole opened up in the sky and we just flew into it. The whole guild and city had already been sucked up except for a few of us who had to go through it ourselves." Lucy explained.

"How did you guys make the sky create a giant hole?" Gon asked curiously.

"We didn't. Mystogan had something to do with it. Something about animal..." Lucy pondered, usually Natsu was the one with bad memory..

"Anima!" Carla corrected as she landed on the table they were sitting at. "And if you guys are trying to go to Edolas, it'd be impossible right now because nobody knows how to open up the portal to that world again. Mystogan might know but he's in Edolas himself and we have no way to contact him or anybody from there." Carla told them.

"We're not trying to go to this Edolas place. We're trying to go back to our own world," Gon sighed.

Killua nodded. "Our portal was blocked from the other side. And right now we're trying to find an alternative to get back."

"There might be something on opening up portals in the guild library," Lucy suggested. Mary tilted her head to the side, she didn't know this place had their own library. Well it was huge building, so she shouldn't be surprised.

15 minutes later Mary, Lucy, Killua and Gon were looking through books in the guild library. Their library was actually pretty big and Mary was getting bored of reading through things that wouldn't benefit them. So far, they had found nothing on portals to another dimension.

"Maybe the Master would know!" Mary suggested, she just wanted to do something other than skim through ancient books.

/ /

"A portal to another dimension?" Makarov rubbed his chin in thought. "I know they exist, but I don't have the slightest idea of how to make one. And I don't know anybody who would know, except Mystogan, But of course, he's not here."

Gon sighed loudly in defeat.

"Don't worry Gon. We'll find a way. And remember, time works differently there. So you could spend a year here and it'd only be like a month there," Mary told the boy. (Okay, I know my math/logic is way off but whatever!) This seemed to have reassured the boy because he smiled at the older girl.

"Now we have another problem," Killua announced. Everyone looked at him curiously. "We're almost out of money. So we can't keep staying at an inn if we want to buy food..."

"Just do some jobs on the job board," Makarov suggested like it was obvious.

"Uh. They're not guild members..."

The Master's eyebrows rose. He forgot that they weren't. They were around the guild hall so much and they got along with a lot of people that he completely forgot they were supposed to be outsiders.

"Well that certainly is a problem. But it can be easily fixed, he pulled out the stamp that had the guild's insignia on it. "Since it seems like you two will be here awhile, why not join the guild? It'll allow you to do jobs," Makarov grinned. Mary chuckled, she didn't know the Master was this accepting...

Killua looked skeptical, but when he looked over to Gon to get his opinion, he saw that the other boy was grinning excitedly. He obviously seemed okay with it. They usually didn't stay in the same place for too long though.

"You do know we could leave at any moment if we find anything out, right?" Killua raised an eyebrow. Makarov nodded. "So this is like temporary...You're just gonna let us do that?"

"Well.. It wouldn't be good for our reputation if people knew we had abandoned two kids on the street to starve," Makarov shrugged. "And since you two hang out here a lot anyways, I don't think it would make that big a difference."

Killua looked at Gon again, "Sure, old man!" Gon grinned. Makarov sweat dropped at the name Gon liked to use for him.

/ / / / /

Killua and Gon looked at their new marks curiously. They both got it on their right shoulders. Killua's was white, while Gon's was green. It suited them. The two boys looked up and grinned at the Master and Mary.

"Well, you two boys could go out on a job," Makarov told them. "I need to speak with Mary for a bit." Mary raised her eyebrows curiously at the master. "But don't be gone for too long. I have an announcement that every guild member needs to hear in a couple days." The two boys gave them an excited look before running out of the office.

"What job do you think we should do first, Killua?" Gon asked happily.

"I don't know, something with a big reward!"

They reached the job board and looked up at it, examining every flyer that was up there. Finally they settled on one that needed a crystal to be retrieved that was deep inside Mt. Hakobe.

"The reward seems a bit much just to get a crystal from inside a cave," Gon said, looking at the flyer. The reward for it was 100,000 jewel. (I don't actually know if that's a lot for this type of job.. But let's pretend it is!)

"There's obviously monsters around it then, but it won't be that difficult," Killua shrugged and took the flyer from him. "Come on! Let's get going! Master said that we shouldn't take too long. And we don't know how long it's gonna take to find it!" Killua said before turning to Mirajane who was serving at the bar as usual. "Mira! We're gonna go on this job!" He called to her, while holding the flyer up in the air.

Mira looked up, "I see you two are official guild members now," She smiled. "Okay, have fun!" She waved. The two boys headed out.

/ / / / /

"Where are we supposed to begin on finding it?" Gon asked. They had already reached the base of Mt. Hakobe and currently they were making their way up. They had heard that Mt. Hakobe had many caves on it.

"Well it says it has a purple glow and grows in bunches in some caves closer to the top of Mt. Hakobe. Wild animals are attracted to the glow, so they often go to it, and protect it if someone is trying to take it," Killua read the piece of paper, then showed Gon the picture that was on there.

"So we should reach the top before looking inside the caves," Gon clarified. He could already see a cave coming up, but they were still too close to the base of the mountain for it to be of any importance on this mission.

Killua nodded, then an idea popped into his head and he grinned at his friend, "Wanna race to the top?"

Gon got that excited look on his face that was there a lot and he nodded once, "You're on!"

"Ready. Set. GO!" They said at the same time before running at full speed all the way to the top. Both of them realized that it was a long way, but they could run all the way to the top with no problem.

As they neared the top, the temperature started dropping and there was snow on the ground.

"I won!" Gon cheered as they both stopped neared the top at the same time.

"We finished at the same time, idiot," Killua chuckled as he looked around the snowy landscape. "It's cold up here, even though it's warmer back in the city... This land is strange," He commented.

"Killua! Let's check there first!" Gon announced, pointing to the cave closest to them. Killua nodded and they headed there.

When they entered, they saw that it was an icy place. Ice covered the ground, and there were icicles hanging from the top. As far as they could tell, it was pretty big.

"Gray-sama would like this place," Gon commented as he skated around excitedly.

"They've probably already been here," Killua shrugged as they both made their way deeper into the cave.

"Look!" Gon pointed, there was a light purple glow coming from around the corner. "This was easier than I thought!"

"We're not done yet."

"And you're not getting this precious crystal of mine," A new, strange voice laughed right before a large black and white ape-like thing dropped in front of them, blocking their way to the purple crystals.

It was almost three times the size of one of the boys, and it basically looked like a giant monkey with white fur. It's head ended in a point, and it had a dumb smile on his face. To be honest, he didn't look like that much of a threat.

"Get out of our way, monkey," Killua said calmly.

"Oh. It's a vulcan! Wendy told me about them!" Gon realized, not feeling threatened at all by the large creature

"You two kids can't do a thing against me," It grinned and crossed it's large arms.

Gon was already running, er ice skating actually, towards the Vulcan, his hands in fists. Gon's face was calm, not like how it would be determined and concentrated if he was in an actual fight. The Vulcan continued laughing, thinking this small boy was gonna do him no harm. He was wrong.

At the last second, Gon jumped up high enough to be eye to eye with the monkey, and punched him square in the face. Obviously, Gon was strong. So the surprised Vulcan fell to the ground on his butt while clutching his nose.

"What the hell, kid?!" It yelled. Killua calmly walked towards it, or rather, he walked towards the crystals behind the Vulcan. As Killua passed the creature, he skimmed his hands along the creatures skin, passing an electric shock through his body and electrocuting the Vulcan into unconsciousness.

"Wow, Killua! You're electricity has gotten a lot stronger! You didn't even have to charge before doing that!" Gon said as he skated towards his friend.

Killua smiled and nodded, "Yeah. But I can't do it a lot. And the Vulcan wasn't that strong, so it wasn't a big deal."

"Wow, these crystals are amazing looking. I wonder how valuable they are," Gon questioned to no one in particular as the two stared down at one bunch of crystals. The whole area that the Vulcan was guarding had tons of crystals bunched along the ground, walls, and ceiling.

"It says here that we have to get these crystals to the client within 24 hours of mining them," Killua read off of the flier that he still had with him. "Are you gonna take some with you, Gon?" He asked his friend.

Gon nodded, "Maybe we can make some more money off of them, if they're valuable!" He grinned before breaking a medium sized portion of the crystal off of the original bunch. Killua did the same, taking the specific amount that the flier had indicated.

/ / / / /

"These crystals? Valuable? That's a funny one!" A chubby man with a mustache and a chef's hat laughed as he took the purple crystals from Killua and Gon. "They have almost no value except for being used in cooking. But most chefs don't use it in their cooking because they don't like it! And it's hard to store because it corrodes after 24 hours of being in a different climate."

"You can cook these rocks...?" Gon asked, kind of freaked out.

"Yes!" The man dropped the rocks into a pot of boiling water. The boys watched as it quickly dissolved and turned the water thick and purple. "It gives the food a unique taste that I enjoy! I only put such a high reward on it because only the best ones are found in Mt. Hakobe, but it's always guarded by a Vulcan. I would've gotten hurt if I had to get it myself!"

Killua and Gon sweat dropped. _This man talks a lot..._ Killua thought.

**|| This was kind of a fluff chapter so I'm sorry that it's a bit boring! x) ||**


	13. Chapter 13

A week and a half had passed, and Mary's ankle was completely healed. Well, it was completely healed to her. To Wendy, Mary's ankle was still delicate, so she warned her not to move around and do outrageous things so soon. She didn't have a chance to do anything outrageous. Master Makarov had gathered all of the guild members, because he had a special announcement. It wasn't much of a surprise, because many of the guild members already knew what he was gonna say.

"I wonder where Mary-san is," Gon said as he looked around the crowded guild hall. Everybody was standing in front of the stage as they waited anxiously for the Master to come out.

"I can feel her presence in the building, but I can't see her," Killua said as he also looked around. The crowd was getting impatient.

"Come on! Let's get on with it!" Gray yelled. A moment after his outburst, the deep red curtains on the stage split open, revealing the Master, Erza, Gildarts, Mirajane, and to everyone's surprise, Mary. The crowd cheered.

"Fairy Tail! It's the day you've all been waiting for, The S-Class Exam!" Makarov announced to the crowd, everyone cheered excitedly. But Killua, Gon, Lucy, Wendy, Gajeel, and Juvia still seemed confused. "For those of you who are new to this guild, the S-Class Exam is a wizard promotion trial we hold at the end of every year. This trial will have the non-S-Class wizards with the most powerful magic participate to see who will become the next S-Class Wizard!" The crowd cheered once again.

"What's Mary doing up there with the other S-Class wizards?" Gon asked curiously. Killua was just wondering the same thing.

"The Exam is different every year," Makarov continued, "This year we will have 8 wizards that I have hand selected will participate in this year's exam. It will be held on Fairy Tail's holy ground where the first master is buried. Tenroujima Island!" The crowd once again went crazy.

"The wizards that were chosen are: Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu jumped up and blew fire out of his mouth in excitement. "Gray Fullbuster!" Gray threw his fist in the air. "Cana Alberona!" Cana smiled, but didn't seem too excited about it. "Levy McGarden!" Levy grinned, Jet and Droy cheered her on happily. "Elfman Strauss!" Elfman grinned and pulled a 'manly' pose. "Juvia Lockser!" Juvia just looked plain surprised. "Freed Justine!" Freed nodded. "And Mest Gryder!" A man with short black hair and a scar on the left side of his face smiled.

"Those chosen are allowed to pick any wizard from Fairy Tail that isn't already participating in this and besides the ones up on this stage with me, to be their partner! You all have a week to prepare."

"I don't get why Mary's up there though," Killua over heard someone say.

"Maybe she's not allowed to partner with anybody because she's basically as strong as an S-Class wizard," The other person said with a shrug.

"Probably!" The two who were having this conversation chuckled. The crowd dispersed except for the 8 chosen wizards, who lingered close to the stage, in case the Master wanted to say anything more. Killua and Gon also walked up to the stage, curious as to what Mary was doing.

"Mary, why are you up there?" Natsu leaned on the stage and looked up at the group of S-Class wizards, the Master, and Mary.

"I'm gonna be the Master's assistant this year!" She said cheerfully.

"Why? We all know you're strong enough to participate in this," Gray commented.

Mary shrugged, "Maybe it's because I'm so new."

"That's not it," Erza stepped up and put a hand on Mary's shoulder. "It's true that Mary is strong enough to take part in this trial."

"Hell, she's close to being almost as strong as an S-Class wizard," Gildarts interrupted with a chuckle.

"But we're basing this on magical power," The Master took over. "Mary focuses on her Nen, and she has little magic power, only enough to strengthen her Nen significantly. Until she has more magic power, I chose not to have her participate in this exam. So I let her become my assistant instead of letting one of you partner with her." (I just wanted an excuse to have her be at Tenroujima as well, but not confuse things by having her participate... xD)

"That's my big sis," Killua said while crossing his arms with a proud smile.

"You really thought everything through, didn't you Master?" Levy chuckled.

"Shouldn't Laxus be here too since he's an S-Class wizard?" Freed asked, always thinking of Laxus.

"My damn grandson chose to go on a quest instead of help out with the exam," The master said, annoyed. Everyone else chuckled.

/ / / / /

"I have to go against Gray?! I don't think I can handle that! And since we're going against each other, we're not able to become partners. Why does this happen to me?!" Juvia talked to herself as she sulked.

"Why wasn't I picked to do this?! Juvia was chosen and she's been in the guild for as long as me!" Gajeel raged.

Mary laughed at what she heard when she approached the table that her usual gang was at. Killua and Gon were there too, they seemed to have already found their place in this guild.

"Have any of you guys picked your partners yet?" Mary asked, resting a hand on her brother's head as she stood behind his chair.

"No. Most of them have all either been sulking or too excited to think," Killua rolled his eyes as he answered his sister.

"Actually, I've already chosen my partner! I promised Loke that he would be my partner if I was ever chosen to take part in the S-Class Exam!" Gray said proudly as a puff of smoke went off beside him, as the smoke cleared, Mary, Killua, and Gon saw a man in a suit and sunglasses with orange hair standing there.

Mary hadn't met him yet. "Who's he?" Killua and Mary said at the same time with the same bland expression. Oh you could definitely tell they were related.

"Maybe he's a magician? He just popped here all of a sudden in smoke!" Gon exclaimed as his theory grew. Loke sweat-dropped as the rest of the people at the table laughed.

"I'm one of Lucy's celestial spirits, the most handsome one. The king of the Zodiac. Leo the Lion!" Loke said dramatically with a hand on his heart.

"You're a very cocky spirit," Mary commented without thinking.

"And you're a very pretty girl," Loke said back smoothly while sliding a hand around Mary's shoulders and looking her in the eye. Mary's eyes widened and she laughed. "I'm Loke, and you are?" Loke said, pulling her closer.

"My name's Mary. You're a cutie," She laughed again before patting his cheek and twirling out of his grasp, Loke frowned. "Anyways, your partner is supposed to be a guild member. This guy is a spirit," She pointed at the celestial spirit.

"That's what I was wondering too," Killua commented.

"I'm still a member of Fairy Tail," Loke said, while undoing his tie. "Just because I haven't been here in a while doesn't mean I'm not a member any more," By the end of his sentence he was taking off his white dress shirt. Everyone looked at him, very confused. Once his shirt was off, he turned around and showed everyone the green insignia in the middle of his back. Mary grinned at him. "I'll make you an S-Class, Gray," Loke smiled at his friend as they bumped fists.

Killua elbowed Gon in the arm after all of the excitement ended, Gon looked at him curiously. Killua nodded at Elfman, or rather someone behind Elfman. Gon shifted his gaze to where Killua nodded and saw Evergreen staring intensely at the large man. No one else seemed to have noticed. Gon burst out laughing, making all the attention turn to him.

"Elfman, someone's giving you and creepy stare!" Gon tried saying quietly before shifting his gaze to Evergreen. Everyone turned to look and some people started chuckling.

"I think she wants to be your partner," Lucy laughed. "Since Freed is partnering with Bickslow, she didn't want to be the only one of the Raijinshuu to not be there."

Evergreen suddenly appeared behind Elfman, continuing to stare him down. He sweat-dropped.

/

"Who's Mest?" Killua asked his older sister when the two of them were sitting at a calm table in the corner, along with Gon of course.

Mary thought about it, "Mmm. He's been here ever since I've joined I think. I haven't really talked to him so I don't know much about him..." She trailed off.

"Well he must be pretty strong if he qualified for the S-Class exam," Killua shrugged.

"Killuaaaa," Gon whined, "Let's try to be someone's partner so we can see the island!"

Mary chuckled, "I think most of them already have partners..."

Gon frowned, "Then bring us with you!"

"I don't think I can do that," She laughed sheepishly.

Gon frowned, but Killua gave him a mischievious look, which Gon returned before the two ran off. Mary sighed, knowing they were up to no good.

/ / / / /

A week later, most of the guild stood on the port to bid farewell to the friends who would be going to Tenroujima.

Natsu paired up with Happy. Gray and Loke, Elfman and Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow, Cana and Lucy, Juvia and Lisanna. The pairs that surprised Mary the most were Levy and Gajeel, and Mest and Wendy.

Mary looked around, she didn't see Killua or Gon anywhere. They must've gone on a job. Mary sighed, H_ow heartless. _She thought, _ They didn't even stick around to say bye. _She shifted the bag that she carried on her back and walked over to Natsu and the others.

"Are you guys ready to get on?" She asked them. "The master and the others are already on board."

"Why do we have to take a boat?!" Natsu yelled, "I'm getting sick just looking at it!"

"Don't be a baby," Gray scolded before getting on the boat with Loke. Everyone else followed and finally Natsu got on reluctantly after Mary shoved him on the ship.

The guild members who were staying in Magnolia waved and cheered at the people on the Fairy Tail ship.

/ / / / /

"I think we're leaving now," A voice said in the dim light as the voices of the crowd started growing more distant and the sound of waves hitting the sides started growing louder.

"Finally," A second voice spoke up.

"Hey, Killua. How long do you think we're gonna have to be down here. It's dark and smells weird," A sniff could be heard before a sound of disgust.

"I don't know, Gon. But don't start complaining already, we've only just left. And be quiet and concentrate on Zetsu or they'll know we're down here," Killua hissed at his friend in the dark.

"They're not going to hear us, the waves are too loud, and we're in the room farthest away from the top deck, where everyone is at," Gon protested.

"What if one of them comes down here to get something and they hear us talking?" Killua asked, always thinking through possible situations. Gon made a sound of annoyance before finally quieting down. This was gonna be a long ride...

The two had sneaked (snuck?) into the storage room of the ship Fairy Tail was riding to Tenroujima Island. They wanted to see the island for themselves instead of being stuck in the guild hall and not getting to watch the excitement. Everyone had already picked partners when they decided they wanted to go, so they decided to become stowaways and sneak off the boat when they had arrived at their destination.

Killua was pretty surprised that the Master out of all people hadn't noticed their presence yet. Makarov's mind was too full with other, more important thoughts than trying to find someone's presence while they were under Zetsu. He had no knowledge that they were there in the first place, obviously.

"How are we supposed to know when we get there?" Gon asked.

Killua shrugged, even though Gon probably couldn't see him. "We'll probably hear their commotion. Or we'll feel the ship stop. Anyways be quiet. Maybe if we listen hard enough we can hear what they're saying!"


	14. Chapter 14

"Ah! It's so hot!" Lucy complained. They had been on the ship for hours now and it was unbelievably hot and humid. Currently, all the women were sitting on fold out chairs in only their bathing suit, and even some of the men were lounging around in their swim trunks.

"Wendy! Why couldn't you cast Troia on me?!" Natsu whined while he was being sick over on the edge of the boat. He wished he could've saved his energy for the upcoming trials inside of puking the whole ride there.

"I have to conserve my energy so I can help Mest win! Sorry Natsu-san," Wendy smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"That's right. You tell him, Wendy!" Mary encouraged as she was fanning herself casually. Wendy turned to grin greatfully at Mary, but when she turned, she saw that Cana, Mary, and Lucy were all lounging in their bathing suits. Which in turn made her discouraged as she realized that there was a big difference between her and the other three women's breast sizes. She looked down at her own flat chest and frowned to herself before walking away.

"Huh? What happened?" Mary wondered to herself as Wendy walked away sadly. Her thoughts were interuppted by a shocked shriek coming from Lucy. Her first thought was that Lucy was in trouble or hurt, so she whipped her head around. Lucy was neither hurt or in trouble, she was just plain shocked. Her mouth gaped open and her eyes were wide. She shook her head before slapping a hand over her eyes.

"Gray what the heck?!" Lucy yelled. Mary shifted her gaze to where Lucy had been looking and was very taken aback. Gray was sitting there, stark naked like it was no big deal. Well for him it probably was nothing. Juvia appeared out of nowhere, blushing with a hand over her forehead as if she were going to faint.

Mary blushed like mad before quickly turning away. "Oh my god... I just can't with these people..." She chuckled to herself as she walked away to find where the Master was.

"Hey look! Is that the island?!" Natsu exclaimed and pointed in the direction they were heading, temporarily forgetting his motion sickness. Mary didn't get very far before she turned around to see.

In front of them in the distance was an island that basically just looked like a giant tree. Everyone was leaning over the edge of the front of the ship excitedly to get a better look. The island was still pretty far so it made no sense to Natsu or the others why the ship was slowing down to a stop already. Mary caught sight of the Master standing on top of the poop deck. So she jumped up there next to him and faced the competing wizards.

"Listen up!" Makarov called to get their attention. Everyone turned to see the two wizards standing above them. "That is indeed Tenroujima Island. Fairy Tail's holy ground. Where the first master is buried. That is where you'll be competing to be the next S-Class wizard! But the exam basically starts here," The master crossed his arms. The excited smiles were wiped off of everyone's face as they became serious and waited for their next instructions.

"On my signal, you will be racing to see who can get off the boat and onto the island first. Waiting for you there will be eight lettered paths for each pair. Three have the current S-Class Wizards waiting to fight who ever wanders into their lane; Gildarts, Erza and Mirajane. Some of you must battle it out with those three and win to move on to the next stage. Four of the lanes converge, and the ones that meet in those paths have to fight it out to see who the victor will be to move on. One is the peaceful path, that leads directly to the second stage without a fight." The tension rose as the participants waited to leave the ship.

"You can use any means to get off this ship and onto the island. So whoever gets there first, gets first pick in which path they would like. And whoever gets there last will have to use the only path left," Mary continued where the Master left off. "The Master and I will be waiting at the end of the lanes to tell whoever is left what the second stage is." She grinned at them just as the Master raised his hand into the air.

"Ready? Go!" He yelled.

"Yes! Come on, Happy! Let's get going!" Natsu grinned.

"Aye sir!" The cat replied happily before grabbing onto Natsu's back and flying away towards the island.

Gray grumbled as the rest watched Natsu easily leave the ship. "Come on, Loke!" He called before the two of them jumped over the edge, the landed safely on some ice Gray created. The ice lead all the way to the island.

Mary watched excitedly as each pair left the ship, in their own means of getting to the island. "Oooh! I'm so excited to see who'll win!" Mary hopped up and down.

/ / / / /

"Gon!" Killua whispered quietly, gesturing for Gon to follow him. "It feels like we stopped." Slowly, the two boys crept up the stairs, concentrating on being silent and also their Zetsu. When they reached the top of the staircase, they pressed their ears to the wooden door that led to the deck that everyone was previously on. They could hear almost everything with their excellent hearing.

"It sounds like everyone is getting off the ship here and they have to get to the island on their own," Gon said.

"Then the island must still be a little bit away, or else it would be no challenge," Killua thought about it.

"How are we going to get there?"

"We'll wait until we know that everyone has left the boat. Then we'll leave and swim for it," Killua shrugged as if it was obvious. Gon smiled and nodded.

. . .

"Okay, Gon. I can't feel Mary's presence anymore. The master must've used some kind of magic to transport them there," Killua said quietly as he opened the door that led to the main deck. Before fully walking out, he stuck his head out to survey things. Nobody was there, good. Slowly, both of them walked out.

Gon sighed in relief, "Good thing Mary didn't bother to use En. Well if I was her, I would think there was no point to it anyways," Gon shrugged and let out a little chuckle.

"If she had used En, we would be dead," Killua chuckled as well. "The island is still pretty far," Killua shaded his eyes so he could look out over the ocean. Quite a distance in front of them, there was this big tree looking thing. He grinned at his friend. "Race you there?"

"Of course," Gon grinned and nodded. Both of them ran towards the front of the ship, and didn't pause for a second before jumping over the edge and into the calm waters. As soon as they hit the water, both of them began swimming quickly towards shore.

/ / / / /

"This has already gotten really exciting!" Mary grinned as she glanced at the cave exits. Her and The Master were waiting in a clearing directly outside of the caves that the wizards had gone inside to fight and lead them here.

"It's only the first part," Makarov chuckled at the young girl. She had really changed since she arrived at Fairy Tail. She was more outgoing and loud and overall she just seemed much happier. There was nothing better for Makarov than seeing his little brats happy. He was glad that Mary fit in with Natsu and the others.

Mary shrugged and shaded her eyes as she looked up at the clear blue sky that was partially covered by the tall trees. "Maybe next year I'll get to participate in this. I wonder who'll make it through..."

"I've got a pretty good idea," Makarov smirked before sitting on the ground with his arms and legs crossed, prepared to wait.

"What am I supposed to do? I don't want to just sit here and wait!" Mary frowned at the patient old man.

He shrugged. "Train," He suggested, "You won't get very far in this short amount of time though. But it's better than nothing." Mary frowned at the old man, but shuffled over to the far side of the clearing anyway.

Mary decided to start small. She sat on the ground cross legged and opened up her right hand, palm up. A blue flame appeared there, about the size of her palm, floating a centimeter or two above her skin. Most of the fire was made out of her Nen, but little by little she lessened the amount of Nen she was using, while adding a little bit of her magic in there and trying to keep the flame the same size.

Even though the flame was tiny compared to the amount of power she could use, by the time she had gotten the Nen completely out of the flame and replaced by magic, she was already a little bit fatigued. Mary let out a deep breath in preparation, before trying to get the flame to grow bigger by her magic. Very slowly, but surely, she had gotten the blue fire to consume her entire right arm. Mary grinned in excitement, even though she was already tired and the fire looked a bit unstable, she had done it.

Happily, she raised her flaming arm and waved it excitedly as she looked at the Master with a grin on her face.

"Good job. Only took you 45 minutes," The Master called from where he was sitting. Mary was taken aback, she hadn't realized that it took her that long. All of the concentrating made the time fly by. But still, it was pretty fast compared to some of the other things that people could take days to master. She let the flames disappear. "By now most of them should be finishing up. So why don't you stop for now, wouldn't want you wasting all of your strength before things really got started!"

Mary grinned and got up to hurry over to the master. Just as she reached him, she felt someone's presence approaching them from the direction of the caves.

"Heyy. Look who made it," Mary grinned and scurried over to the two girls walking out of the cave. Lucy and Cana walked out of the cave looking victorious. Mary high fived the two happy looking girls and lead them over to Master Makarov.

"Now we must wait for the rest," Makarov smiled at the girls.

/ / / / /

"I win!" Gon exclaimed with his fist up as he stood on the sandy shores of Tenroujima Island. Killua stood next to him with a fist on his hip and a smug smile.

"We got here at the same time, idiot," He didn't wait for a reply from Gon, instead he started walking towards the forest-y part, deeper into the island.

"Wow! It's pretty amazing that Fairy Tail has their own island!" Gon exclaimed, excitedly looking around as they continued on their walk.

"With an Island this big, there has to be something exciting!" Killua grinned at his friend.

Quite a ways into the island, they felt a strange dark and evil presence. The two froze in their tracks and tensed, immediately on high alert.

"What is this?!" Killua whispered, his eyes wide and searching all around him.

"It feels like... death..." That was the simplest way Gon could have explained this aura at the moment. His fingers were even shaking slightly. The presence got closer and the two boys watched as a man walked out of the trees a few meters in front of them. The boys instinctively got into a defensive stance. The man turned and took a few steps closer, allowing Killua and Gon a better look at his face.

The man looked around Natsu's age, maybe even a year younger. He had black hair that fell into his face and black eyes. The choice of clothing that he wore was a bit strange to Gon and Killua, but then again, they weren't from this world. The man looked far from evil. He actually looked kind of innocent, along with very sad. Even so, they didn't let their guard down.

"Who are you?!" Killua called to the stranger.

"Are you a companion of Natsu's?" The stranger said quietly, just barely loud enough for the two boys to hear him at this distance. Gon and Killua's eyes widened as they heard Natsu's name come from this person. "I need to see him. Very soon. Or I'll just keep killing things..." The man looked down at trailed off. It could've been their imagination, but they saw tears fall from his black eyes.

The two boys sweat dropped. "Killua... Is he crying...?" Gon asked his friend. Killua nodded slowly, unsure. They found it hard to believe that someone with this sort of evil presence could be crying. But when the man looked up again, the tears were gone from his face and he only looked terrified.

"Here it comes... Run..." He ordered the kids shakily. "I don't want to kill anymore!" He yelled while clutching his head. The dark aura intensified and seemed to surround them. The boys were too shocked to react as a black wave come from the man and started kind of pulsating from him. It was too late to run once Killua got to his senses.

"Gon!" He yelled before grabbing his friend's head and pulling him to the ground with him. They both hit the hard ground and lay flat as the black fog flowed over them. It was a miracle that it didn't touch them.

When they got up and dusted themselves off, the weird man was gone. What really struck the two boys was that all of the plants around them were dead. Completely lifeless. The flowers and grass had withered, the bushes and trees had no leaves and were just dark fragile looking branches. They both took a frightened step back.

"Killua..." Gon trailed off.

Killua understood what his friend was trying to say. He nodded, "We have to find the others and warn them. A person like this on the same island is incredibly deadly."

"But how do we find them? I can't sense Mary or anybody else's auras," Gon looked around. It was true, they couldn't sense anybody's presence. Not even that man who brought death with him. Gon and Killua might have even walked in the complete opposite direction of the others this whole time.

"Let's walk back the way we came. Sooner or later we're bound to run into someone. And hopefully it won't be that same man..." Killua frowned.

/ / / / /

**|| Woah. Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. I was on vacation ^-^ And sorry if this chapter is kind of sucky, I haven't written in a while and I'm kinda rusty. ||**


	15. Chapter 15

Mary felt a shiver go down her spine and she instinctively looked in a random direction. She thought she could sense a mean, dark aura. But it must've been her imagination. She looked around to see if anybody else had noticed, but the others were acting normal.

As she was side tracked, a few more pairs walked into the clearing. Levy and Gajeel, and Gray and Loke. Mary grinned as she saw the four of them walk into the clearing, and gave Gray and Loke high fives as they stopped in front of her.

"Good job on making it here, guys," She smiled and surveyed everyone that was here. "I wonder who the rest will be," Mary raised her eye brows excitedly.

"I think we've all got a pretty good idea on who'll make it," Gray said with a smirk. Everyone nodded confidently. Mary chuckled, because she somehow knew who the last two teams that would come out of those caves would be.

As if on cue, two people came out of one of the far caves. Everyone's heads turned at the same time. A grinning and tired looking Elfman and Evergreen greeted them. Everyone smiled and waved as they walked over.

"You two look a bit tired," Lucy commented with a chuckle. "Who'd you have to fight?"

"Mira Ne-chan," Elfman said exasperatedly.

Everyone's eyebrows rose in surprised. It was quite a miracle that these two could defeat Mirajane.

"We had to catch her off-guard though. We didn't actually defeat her in a fight," Evergreen rolled her eyes. Mary was surprised that she would actually admit something like that.

"Well you made it here, and that's all that matters," Lucy grinned, always the one being positive.

"Oh yeah, speaking of who they fought. I was wondering who you all had to fight to get through," Mary spoke up and turned so she faced everyone.

"We went through the calm path," Levy grinned.

"Not at all exciting," Gajeel frowned and crossed his arms, turning away grumpily.

"Loke and I fought Wendy and Mest," Gray said, the two of them had a proud smile.

"Lucy and I fought Freed and Bickslow," Cana smiled with her arms crossed.

"Huh. So that means Natsu and Happy fought either Gildarts or Erza..." Mary commented. Neither of them would be easy to defeat. That left Juvia and Lisanna as well.

"We went up against Gildarts!" A small voice announced. Everyone turned to the direction it came from.

Natsu was walking out of one of the caves very calmly, and very solemnly. While Happy flew beside him. So it looked like Juvia and Lisanna went up against Erza. They most likely lost. The boys didn't look too excited to have defeated Gildarts of all people. The rest could all sense the mood that surrounded the two, and they decided not to ask about it right now.

"Juvia and Lisanna were not able to defeat Erza," The Master announced, for some reason being able to gather information, "So I'll tell you about the second stage!" The Master crossed his arms. As soon as he spoke, everyone turned their attention to him. "Your task is to be the first to locate the grave of the first master, Mavis Vermillion!" Everyone's eyebrows rose. Was there going to be a hint as to where this grave was? "You have the whole entire island to search," The Master added.

"But there's a catch," Mary rose a finger, "You have to find it within six hours."

"It'll take days just to cover the entire island!" Gray said with a frown. Mary just smirked and shrugged. The participants frowned and a serious look shadowed their face.

The Master and Mary glanced at each other, and the Master nodded. "Ready?" Mary rose her right hand straight into the air, "GO!" The Master said the moment a large blue spark shot out of Mary's hand and straight into the air as a start signal. Everyone's eyes followed the blue firework until it disappeared. When they looked down at where the two were, they had disappeared. All the participants glanced at each other before dashing in different directions.

"There must be some kind of hint to where the grave is at," Lucy said as her and Cana ran through the forest. When they decided they got far enough from the rest, they slowed to a walk as they thought about it. "Grave... Death... First...Mavis..." Lucy spoke random words aloud that related to their task.

/ / / / /

"I want you to keep an eye on everyone and watch their progress. I'll stay at the grave and wait for anybody to arrive. This island is holy ground and is hidden by magic, so there shouldn't be any major dangers. Don't let them see you tracking them, it's unlikely but they might follow you back to the grave site without you noticing," Mary recalled Makarov's orders that he gave her earlier as she swiftly jumped from tree branch to tree branch. Currently she was tracking Elfman and Evergreen from high up in the trees. They had no idea she was there, naturally. The pair seemed pretty confident on where they were going, even though they had no idea.

They reached a rocky cliff area, and Mary had to stop as the pair jumped down to the clearing below because the trees ended a few meters from the edge of the cliff. She watched from the shadows of the trees as the pair paused and consulted each other in the clearing.

A dark figure on the edge of the clearing caught Mary's attention. Elfman and Evergreen turned a few moments after she saw this figure. Mary's eyes widened and her mouth gaped slightly as the dark, evil aura hit her. And she almost took a step back and off of the branch she was on. The person took a few more steps into the open space, and Mary could see him clearly, even from where she was. He had black hair and a strange black cloak with a white cloth draped over him diagonally. He certainly was not from Fairy Tail.

The man sighed, "You're not Natsu either."

"Who are you?!" Elfman demanded. They could feel the dark presence from this man as well. Before the man could respond, Mary felt the aura intensify and she could almost see black fog coming off of him in waves. From Evergreen and Elfman's lack of reaction to this, it was obvious they couldn't see or sense what Mary was seeing. Not yet at least. If this aura kept growing stronger, they would soon feel it. Mary clutched the tree to keep her from shaking.

As if on cue, a black fog type of thing encircled this man, and in an instant in expanded rapidly and rippled from him like a strong black wave. Mary was too shocked to move or say anything to warn Elfman and Evergreen and watched in horror as the black wave came over them. Mary was too high up, being on the cliff and on top of a tree, to be affected by this black wave. But even she could tell it was no good.

Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw the effect of the black wave. Everything around the man was dead. The trees lost it's leaves, the grass and flowers had withered. Mary's eyes flew to where Elfman and Evergreen were and was relieved to see that they weren't majorly injured. Someone had knocked them to the ground before the wave hit them. Natsu.

It was still hard to take this all in, so she stood frozen on the tree branch high above everyone else in complete shock. There wasn't magic that could suck the life out of things and kill them on her world. She had never seen anything like this, not even in this world where wizards and magic actually existed.

When Mary finally snapped back to her senses, she saw that Natsu had jumped at the strange man, and was preparing to hit him. "Idiot!" She yelled just as Natsu's fist came in contact with the man, sending him flying. The black wizard easily turned and landed on his feet though, in a crouched position. The wizards started at the sound of Mary's voice, and she appeared among them, with a serious expression and her hands balled into fists to keep them from shaking.

"Mary?!" Natsu and Happy exclaimed at the same time.

"Since when were you here?" Evergreen and Elfman said, also in unison.

"I guess that doesn't matter right now," Natsu nodded once at Mary before turning his attention back to the dark wizard. The dragon slayer looked furious, his white scarf drifting around him in the small breeze. "I don't know you. State your name!" He ordered the man. The man said nothing, he only started standing up unbelievably slowly. When he looked up, everyone was very shocked to see tears coming out of his eyes.

"H-he's crying.." Happy said.

"That's not creepy at all..." Evergreen said sarcastically and sweat dropped.

Mary sensed the intense dark aura again right before the man clutched his head, shaking, as if he were in pain. The black fog encircled him again.

"Everyone! Run!" Natsu turned and ordered the rest of them, just the black fog expanded and came towards them in a wave. Natsu was a few meters closer to the man than the rest of them, but he began moving back as well.

"Natsu! What the hell are you doing?! Get out of there!" Mary yelled right before the black fog surrounded Natsu's retreating figure. He wasn't fast enough. Instinctively, Mary put up a force field of aura to protect the rest of them, but she was terrified of what could've happened to Natsu.

"Natsu!" Happy yelled sadly as he hovered near Mary's head. Evergreen and Elfman took a step closer to get a better look, but remained behind Mary's shield. Her eyes widened as she saw that this black wave was eating away at Mary's shield. The edges looked black, they looked like they were being burned and were slowly making the transparent glass-like force field smaller. Even when the black wave had disappeared, the force field continued disintegrating until it was completely gone. That was new to her as well, and it left her with a bad feeling in her bones. She took a shaky breath before turning her attention to Natsu.

A sigh of relief left her mouth when she saw that he was still alive, but something was off.

"W-what happened... What happened to your scarf, Natsu?!" Happy said in horror. Everyone's gaze darted to his scarf, and they all gasped. It had turned completely black. Natsu grabbed it and looked at it furiously.

"How dare he mess with the scarf Igneel gave me..." He growled, mostly to himself.

_That's why Natsu is alive. The scarf must've absorbed the dark magic to protect him... _Mary thought. Happy realized the same thing. They all watched in silence for a few moments while Natsu clutched the now black scarf in anger.

"What the heck!?" Natsu yelled and waved his fists arm angrily. "Since this scarf is black now it doesn't match my clothes! That bastard!" Mary face palmed, and the others sweat dropped.

"He's worried about his clothes coordinating?" Evergreen said quietly.

"That aside," Mary waved her hand in Natsu's direction, referring to his outfit problem. "What are we going to do, now that we know a dangerous guy like him is running around this island?"

"It's certainly no time for tests..." Evergreen stated.

"Of course it is! I have to become an S-Class! I told Gildarts!" Natsu exclaimed, continuing to wave his fists around.

"And I have to become S-Class because I am my big sister's brother!" Elfman yelled to the skies. The two boys turned to glare at each other, then started arguing about who was going to be victorious in this exam. Mary sweat dropped.

"Alright! So we'll keep going then!" Natsu yelled before running off with Happy.

"So will we!" Elfman yelled before dragging Evergreen in another direction. Mary was left there, very confused over what just happened. _What should I do now? _She thought, placing a hand on her hip and looking up at the clear sky. Something was coming. Something big. That thought was dancing at the very back of her mind, but she pushed it away without thinking about it. _I guess I should just continue my patrols, since Natsu and the others are continuing. _Mary decided before disappearing from her spot in the clearing.

/ / / / /

This entire time Killua and Gon watched from a far away spot on top of the hill. Even though they were quite a distance away, they saw what was happening, and could read their friends' lips, so they knew pretty much exactly what was going on.

"I guess they don't think of that man as a current threat," Killua shrugged.

Gon nodded. "He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt people. Even though his kind of magic sucks the life out of everything... So what should we do now?"

"Mmmm.." Killua looked up at the blue sky, thinking about their options. "I guess we could continue exploring," He grinned. "Maybe we'll run into somebody on the way, then we'll just go with it. But we'll still have to be on alert, in case we come close to that strange man again."

"Okay!" Gon grinned and they gave each other high fives. "Maybe we can find the camp and take some food," Gon suggested. Both of their stomachs growled then, and they smiled at each other sheepishly. "I'm sure Mira won't be that mad at us for sneaking over here." Gon just guessed that Mirajane would be the one making refreshments for those that had already lost.

"Hey, did you see that huge monster slug thing that was chasing Gajeel and Levy?" Gon chuckled as they started walking in a random direction.

Killua nodded and laughed. "We probably could've killed it easily!" he said confidently, his hands hooked behind his head.

"Hey! What the heck are you two doing here?!" A familiar voice exclaimed. The two boys paused and looked down the path that they were walking. A few meters in front of them stoof Erza and Juvia. Erza was the one who previously spoke. So much for keeping alert.

They looked at the two older women with wide eyes, then looked at each other. As if they shared a thought, they dashed to the right and disappearing in the greenery without a word.

"Don't run away! Come back here you two!" Erza shook a fist in the direction they had ran off too and frowned.

Juvia let out a small giggle. "Let them be. They're little boys. They want to explore. Anyways, we have to find Gray-sama!" Her eyes turned to hearts again and she swayed, before abruptly stopping when she realized Erza was staring at her strangely. "And Wendy as well," She added in with a sheepish smile.


	16. Author's Note slash Apology

**Ohhhh My Goodness... I'm so sorry I haven't posted in forever! D: Highschool started (in my county the first year of highschool is in 10th grade, and they put 9th grade in middle school. so I'm a sophomore, not a freshman) and I'm taking two advanced classes and on top of that and being a procrastinator, I have cheerleading practices in a city that's almost an hour away. So I've been extremely busy... But you probably don't want to hear excuses.. Sorry! **

**Right now I'm working on the next chapter, but it won't be uploaded right away because I have crazy writer's block right now, like I can't even work on any of my other stories... I want to try and make this next chapter good, or at least decent, because of the long wait. But no promises!... I feel so bad.. D: I will be continuing this story however, but I need to rewatch some of Fairytail to remember things, and I need to catch up on HunterxHunter. **

**Again, I feel so bad for this really long break. D: If you're a really cool person and you wanna catch up with me or talk to me, then you can follow my tumblr: .com .. I haven't been using it that much but I'm starting back up again! I promise I'll continue the story, but I don't really know when I'll be posting. **

**I've probably apologized so many times in this, but I feel bad... Haha. Hope y'all have an amazing day/night/whatever it is where you live. (: **


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